Science for practice

Changes in Arterial Pressure in Weightlifters

A. F. Sinyakov, S. V. Stepanova, Cand. Sc. (Medicine), GTsOLIFK

English summary of Tyazhelaya Atletika. Ezhegodnik 1984 (Moscow: Fizkultura i Sport, 1984), pp. 66–68: the text is paraphrased, not translated; data tables are given in full with English labels.

Long-term observations of arterial pressure (AP) were made in weightlifters of the trade-union sports societies and USSR national teams; 460 lifters were measured repeatedly. Mean systolic pressure was 119±8.8 mm Hg and diastolic 74±6.6, with individual values of 90–150 and 50–95.

With 134/84 mm Hg as the upper limit of normal for ages 19–39 (M. S. Kushakovsky, 1983), 27.4% of the lifters had raised pressure: isolated systolic in 8.3%, isolated diastolic in 10.2% and both in 8.9%, with a single raised reading or constantly raised pressure, mostly in heavy categories. Examined thoroughly, most showed no health problems and had high working capacity, but adapted worse to functional tests than lifters with normal pressure, and some had fundus changes. Each trained to an individual plan under intensified medical supervision.

Lowered pressure was found in 14.8%: isolated systolic in 8.3%, isolated diastolic in 4.5% and both in 2%. M. B. Kazakov (1961) found raised systolic pressure in 16.9%, raised diastolic in 20.8%, lowered systolic in 13.1% and lowered diastolic in 3.9%; N. I. Volnov (1958) found raised pressure in 21.2%, the highest share among athletes; M. Ya. Levin (1967) found hypotension in 12.7%.

Low pressure can result from a high level of training, with high working capacity and good well-being; this physiological hypotension, a variant of the norm, was found in 52% of these lifters. The other 48% complained of fatigue and at times dizziness and headaches, usually had chronic infection and atypical, slowly recovering responses to functional tests; their hypotension was regarded as pathological.

Pressure tends to rise with body-weight category (Table 1); at 110 kg and over the mean approaches the upper limit of normal, which needs special study.

Table 1. Arterial pressure of weightlifters in different body-weight categories (means)

Before training (Table 2) systolic pressure rose on average by 10 mm Hg (9% of the morning value) and diastolic by 5 (7.2%); the largest individual rises were 35 (30.4%) and 15 (21.4%). Two hours after training it was close to the morning value. In the preparatory period mean fluctuations were 7 mm Hg systolic (116 to 123) and 6 diastolic (70 to 76).

Table 2. Arterial pressure over the day in highly qualified weightlifters (n = 460, mean x̄ ± σ)

Pressure is an important characteristic of the cardiovascular system and must be considered in training. Raised pressure, at 27.4%, was comparatively frequent; some of these lifters had chronic infection or breaches of regime, and practically all adapted worse to functional tests. Lifters with raised pressure, even a single reading, need especially strict medical and pedagogical control: treatment of infection, properly chosen loads and wide use of recovery means against overstrain and overtraining.

Each case must be analysed carefully, not explained baldly by the supposed specificity of weightlifting, a thesis that cannot be accepted. Properly organised training leads neither to pathology nor to raised pressure, as the normal or even low pressure of most lifters shows.