EFFECTS OF RESISTANCE TRAINING ON THE CONTROL OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Arterial hypertension (AH) is a highly prevalent non-communicable chronic disease associated
with substantial morbidity and mortality, whose control involves, in addition to
pharmacological therapy, lifestyle modifications, among which physical exercise stands out.
This article aimed to verify, based on the scientific literature, the effects of resistance training
(RT) on the control of hypertension, analyzing the physiological mechanisms involved, the
protocols used to reduce blood pressure (BP), and the recommendations for prescribing RT to
hypertensive individuals. This is a literature review with a systematized search of the LILACS,
SciELO, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases and institutional repositories, covering
publications from 2015 to 2025. Of the 1,725 records identified, six studies were included and
analyzed descriptively and interpretively. The studies converged in indicating that regularly
performed RT reduces resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with reductions of 7.26
mmHg and 4.84 mmHg in hypertensive older adults and of 3.38 mmHg and 1.95 mmHg in a
meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The proposed mechanisms include vascular,
structural, and neurohumoral adaptations, reductions in catecholamines and total peripheral
resistance, and improved insulin sensitivity. The predominant protocols involved two to three
weekly sessions, three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions, and an intensity between 60% and 80% of
one-repetition maximum (1-RM), for 12 to 16 weeks. It is concluded that RT, prescribed at
moderate intensity and under professional supervision, is an effective non-pharmacological
strategy complementary to drug treatment, although further studies assessing its isolated effects
are needed.