Music attenuates a widened central pulse pressure caused by resistance exercise: A randomized, single-blinded, sham-controlled, crossover study

Increasing central blood pressure is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease and is an acute effect of high-intensity resistance exercise. It has been shown that classical music suppresses increased peripheral pressure during exercise. We hypothesized that classical music would suppress increased central pressure induced by high-intensity resistance exercise. To confirm this hypothesis, we examined the effect of classical music on central pressure following high-intensity resistance exercise in 18 young men. A randomized, single-blinded, sham-controlled, crossover trial was conducted under parallel experimental conditions on four separate days. The order of experiments was randomized between sham control (seated rest), music (20-min classical music track compilation), resistance exercise (5 sets of 10 repetitions at 75% of 1 repetition maximum), and resistance exercise with music conditions. Aortic pressure was measured in all subjects. No significant interaction between time, music, and resistance exercise was observed for aortic systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. In contrast, aortic pulse pressure showed a significant interaction; that is, aortic pulse pressure significantly widened after resistance exercise, whereas music significantly attenuated this widening. No significant change was observed in aortic pulse pressure in sham control and music conditions. The present findings suggest that music attenuates resistance exercise-induced increase in central pressure.