Higher physical fatigue predicts adherence to a 12-week exercise intervention in women with elevated blood pressure.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate predictors of exercise adherence to a 12-week exercise intervention for sedentary women and men with elevated blood pressure (BP).

METHODS

Fifty-one otherwise healthy and unmedicated adults (27 women and 24 men) with elevated BP (≥120/80 mmHg but <179/109 mmHg) participated in a 12-week exercise intervention involving cardiovascular and strength training. Participants kept weekly exercise logs detailing minutes spent exercising each week. The following were assessed before and after the intervention: cardiorespiratory fitness (in mL/kg/min), body mass index (BMI), level of habitual physical activity, physical fatigue, self-efficacy for exercise habits, and social support.

RESULTS

Regression analysis revealed that mean exercise minutes/week were predicted by higher age (p < .05), higher cardiorespiratory fitness (p < .05), and a gender by physical fatigue interaction (p < .01; R2 = 0.34, F = 3.248, p < .01). Women who reported higher physical fatigue prior to the intervention spent more time exercising during the 12-week intervention than those with lower levels of physical fatigue. This relationship persisted after controlling for age, BMI, cardiorespiratory fitness, level of habitual physical activity prior to the intervention, self-efficacy for exercise habits, and social support (p < .01). The gender by physical fatigue interaction explained 13.9% of the variance in mean minutes exercised/week above and beyond the effects of covariates.

CONCLUSION

Both gender and fatigue should be considered when developing exercise interventions, such that more initial physical fatigue in women is associated with a tendency to devote greater amounts of time to exercising.