Effect of weekly training frequency on blood pressure

Systemic arterial hypertension is highly prevalent in practically all Western countries. It is known that individuals with hypertension have a higher risk of developing coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure and peripheral arterial disease. The clinical and therapeutic management of hypertension includes not only pharmacological measures, but also non-pharmacological ones such as targeted salt restriction, smoking restriction, combating stress, weight loss and physical exercise. In this sense, a physical conditioning programme has often been recommended as an important approach in the treatment of hypertension. The spontaneously hypertensive rat is an excellent model of essential human hypertension. Its importance has been credited to the similarity of its pathophysiology with essential (primary) hypertension in humans. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of continuous low-intensity aerobic exercise performed at different weekly training frequencies on systolic blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats.