Comparison of Effects of Static and Dynamic Work on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

It has been shown that when young men work at a rate of 1250 kg-m for 1 minute on a bicycle ergometer, a sharp significant rise in systolic arterial pressure occurs, accompanied either by no change or a slight decrease in diastolic pressure. Static work, on the other hand, consisting of squeezing a grip dynamometer at maximum effort for 1 minute, produced a sharp significant rise in both systolic and diastolic arterial pressure. The dynamic work was accompanied by a mean oxygen debt of 1200 ml, while in the static work there was a maintained steady state or a very small oxygen debt, the maximum value ever attained being 375 ml. It is suggested that the blood pressure effects reported are a consequence of reflexes which are modified by the metabolic changes associated with the work load. Submitted on October 29, 1956