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

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: 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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

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

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Jump rope exercise intervention	Jump rope exercise intervention	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.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Nitrate/Nitrite Levels	12 weeks	Nitrate and nitrite levels were assayed using a Griess assay kit.
Body Mass	12 weeks	Body mass was measured to nearest 0.1 kg.
Body Fat	12 weeks	Percent body fat (%) was determined using a bioelectrical impedance-meter.
Diastolic Blood Pressure	12 weeks
Waist Circumference	12 weeks	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.
C-reactive Protein	12 weeks	C-reactive protein was assessed using an enzyme immunoassay assay kit
Systolic Blood Pressure	12 weeks	Blood pressure was measured in duplicate using an automated sphygmomanometer. The average of the two was recorded as the resting blood pressure.
Lean Body Mass	12 weeks	Lean body mass (kg) was determined using a bioelectrical impedance-meter.
Arterial Stiffness	12 weeks	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.
Endothelin-1	12 weeks	Levels of Endothelin-1 in blood were measured by Endothelin-1 enzyme immunoassay kit.
Height	12 weeks	Height was measured to nearest 1 cm.