One session of strength exercise does not promote negative changes in the structure venous leg and thigh in men

Abstract

The increase of the venous diameter is associated with the incompetence of the venous system of lower limb. In order to analyze the acute effects of one session of strength exercise (SE) on superficial venous diameter (VD) of the lower limbs (LL). Twenty-two men (22 ± 2 years old, 81.2 ± 13.4kg weight, 173.0 ± 4.0 cm height and 18.6 ± 3.3% estimated body fat) performed a circuit of  three SE, with 3 sets of 6 repetitions, controlled by metronome, with a load of 85% (1-RM) and 3 minutes rest. The VDs of the internal saphenous vein (ISV), in right and left LL, were measured at baseline and immediately after each set with color eco-Doppler. Data were analyzed by means of a one-way ANOVA for repeated measures. There was a significant effect of time for the right and left VSI (p= 0.001), the VDs at baseline were higher than in series for both. Furthermore, between sets, there was a significant decrease between the first and second (p= 0.009) and an increase between the second and third series (p= 0.027) for the right ISV. For the left ISV, only measured after the first and second are different (p= 0.001). There was a trend toward reduction in VD after the acute bout of strength exercise, indicating that their practice is efficient for the performance of this structure.