The purpose of present study was associate the increase of respiratory muscle strength with blood pressure levels in hypertensive subjects who underwent an aerobic exercise program. 90 hypertensive subjects were divided in two groups: intervention and control. All participants had an interview with a physiotherapist and were evaluated by 6-minute walk test, maximal inspiratory pressure, maximal expiratory pressure, heart rate, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, before and after the 8 weeks. In the intervention group, the subjects underwent aerobic exercise program, 2 times a week for 8 weeks.
After the program, the levels of blood pressure were significantly reduced and the distance walked in the 6-minute walk test and the respiratory muscle strength were increased, compared to pre intervention and control group values. However, there was no correlation between the results provided by 6-minute walk test, maximal inspiratory pressure and maximal expiratory pressure with systolic arterial blood pressure levels. Nonetheless, the distance walked correlated with respiratory muscle strength values, in the intervention group.
The present study demonstrated that the aerobic training was effective in reducing the arterial blood pressure in hypertensive subjects associated with an improvement of physical conditioning and respiratory muscle strength.