The time course of selected outcome measures in healthy women aged 65-74 years when varying exercise frequency and duration of an exercise walking programme

Background: We aimed to determine the time course of resting and exercise heart rates (HR); blood pressure (BP), changes in peak VO2, time to exhaustion (TTE) and gas exchange threshold (Tge) at a constant weekly exercise time [120 mins] with counterbalanced variations in exercise duration (60 vs. 30min) and weekly visits (2 vs. 4 .wk‐1 session per week). Methods: Forty‐six women aged 65‐74 years were randomly assigned to 2 or 4 sessions.wk‐1) for six weeks. Results: Principal findings: (i) significant increase in Tge at six weeks, with no significant differences between exercise frequency or duration; (ii) no significant increase in peak values for VO2, HR, minute ventilation and respiratory quotient after six weeks exercise training (iii) significant decreases in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at rest and during exercise only in the 4 sessions.wk‐1 group and (iv) significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) during exercise and post‐exercise period for both groups and rapid time course changes in HR and BP. Conclusions: Exercise elicited rapid reductions in HR and SBP during exercise and post‐exercise recovery periods for both groups and there was no significant interaction between exercise duration and exercise frequency.