The Effects of a Jump Rope Exercise Program on Vascular Health, Inflammatory Markers in Prehypertensive Adolescent Girls

The Effects of a Jump Rope Exercise Program on Vascular Health, Inflammatory Markers in Prehypertensive Adolescent Girls

The Effects of a 12-Week Jump Rope Exercise Training Program on Arterial Stiffness, Vasodilating and Vasoconstricting Factors, Inflammatory Markers, and Body Composition in Prehypertensive Adolescent Girls

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a 12-week jump rope exercise program on blood pressure, arterial stiffness, vasodilating and vasoconstricting factors, inflammatory markers, and body composition in prehypertensive adolescent girls. Forty prehypertensive adolescent girls participated in this study. The girls were randomly divided into the jump rope exercise intervention group (EX, n=20) and control group (CON, n=20). The EX group performed a jump rope training program at 40-70% of their heart rate reserve (HRR) 5 days/week for 12 weeks (sessions 50 minutes in duration). The CON group did not participate in any structured or unstructured exercise protocol. Blood pressure, arterial stiffness, plasma nitrate/nitrite levels, endothelin-1, C-reactive protein, and body composition were measured before and after the 12-weeks study.

The jump rope exercise program was performed for 50 minutes with 5 minutes of warm-up and cool-down per day, 5 times a week for 12 weeks. The program consisted of various main jump rope exercises (1 line 2 jump, jumping feet together, running jumping, open side jump, open back and forth jump, rock paper scissor jump). The warm-up and cool down consisted of static stretching, walking, and jogging. Intensity of exercise was gradually increased from 40-50% heart rate reserve (HRR) in weeks 1-4 and to 60-70% HRR in weeks 9-12. Each training session was supervised by the researchers. Every subject wore a heart rate monitor during the whole training session in order to maintain the designated training intensity.

Arterial stiffness was measured as measurement of brachial to ankle pulse-wave velocity. This indicates peripheral arterial stiffness, as it measures how quickly a pulse wave propagates from one point to another.

Waist circumference was measured at midpoint between the lower rib and the iliac crest at the end of a normal expiration using a tape measure.

Blood pressure was measured in duplicate using an automated sphygmomanometer. The average of the two was recorded as the resting blood pressure.

Inclusion Criteria: prehypertensive sedentary (no regular exercise training or physical activity within the last year) no weight loss diet during the last six months Exclusion Criteria: pregnancy chronic disease daily medication use (including antioxidants and weight loss supplements)