Swimming chronic effects on the blood pressure. In hypertensive adults

The purpose of this work was to verify the chronic effects of a regular swimming program on hypertensive adults' pressoric levels. The sample was constituted of 28 individuals that presented light and moderated hypertension, who were divided into two groups: Experimental (11 women and 3 men) and Control (8 men and 6 women), with 42,29 +/- 8,72 and 42.15 +/- 9.72 years old, respectively. The subjects of Experimental group have engaged into a regular swimming program for 10 weeks, while the Control group did not practice any physical activity for the period. It was used the Student t-Test as statistical procedure, in order to analyze the differences between the average indexes recorded before and after the 10-weeks regular swimming program. The study admitted a level of p < 0.05 for statistical significance. The results led to the conclusion that Experimental group presented significant statistical difference for the analyzed variables when compared to Control group. There was an important reduction of SBP, in rest, from 146,36 +/- 4,77 to 132,31 +/- 9,93 and in DBP de 88,7 +/- 9,92 to 76,2 +/- 8,84 mmHg. The results allow us to conclude that a regular swimming program leads to a significant decrease in the blood pressure of hypertensive adults, in rest.