Cardiovascular stress reactivity tasks successfully predict the hypotensive response of isometric handgrip training in hypertensives

This study aimed to determine whether: (a) isometric handgrip ( IHG ) training lowers resting blood pressure ( BP ), (b) cardiovascular reactivity to a serial subtraction ( SST ), IHG ( IHGT ), and cold pressor ( CPT ) task predicts this hypotensive response, and (c) cardiovascular reactivity is attenuated posttraining. Resting BP and cardiovascular reactivity to a SST , IHGT , and CPT were measured in 24 hypertensives (51–74 years) before and after 10 weeks of IHG training ( n  = 12) or control ( n  = 12). IHG training lowered resting BP (Δ8/5 mmHg), whereby the decrease in systolic BP was correlated to pretraining systolic BP reactivity to the SST ( r  = −.85) and IHGT ( r  = −.79; all p s  <  .01), but not the CPT ( r  = .34; p  > .01). Furthermore, following IHG training, systolic BP reactivity to the SST (Δ7 mmHg) and IHGT (Δ8 mmHg) was reduced (all p s < .01). The results offer promising implications for hypertensives and may provide a tool to identify IHG training responders.