Effects of Land versus Water Walking Interventions on Vascular Function in Older Adults

Abstract

Purpose Endothelial dysfunction is an early and integral atherogenic event. Interventions that improve endothelial function also reduce cardiovascular risk. Due largely to the direct hemodynamic effects of repetitive exercise on the artery wall, exercise training has shown to enhance endothelial function. Land walking (LW) and water walking (WW) induce distinct hemodynamic responses, so the comparison of their effects provides an approach to study shear stress effects on endothelial function. We hypothesized that LW and WW training would have different effects on peripheral artery endothelial function. Methods Fifty-one sedentary, older (age = 61.9 ± 6.6 yr, 23.5% male) individuals were rand..