Multi-joint exercise promotes larger hemodynamic overland regardless of strength training experience

Introduction: resistance training (RT) can elicit acute cardiovascular changes influenced by exercise selection, particularly regarding joint involvement and muscle mass recruitment. Whether previous RT experience modifies hemodynamic responses during single- and multi-joint resistance exercises remains unclear. Objective: to investigate whether previous RT experience alters acute hemodynamic responses to single- and multi-joint resistance exercises. Methods: twenty-four healthy men were allocated into trained (T; ≥12 months of RT experience) and untrained (UT) groups. Participants performed two RT sessions consisting of single-joint [extension chair (EC)] and multi-joint [leg press (LP)] exercises at 75% of 1-RM, with four sets of 12 repetitions and 1-minute rest intervals. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart pressure product (HPP) were assessed before and after exercise. Repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc correction was applied, and effect sizes were calculated using partial eta squared (ηp²). Results: significant differences were observed in 1-RM performance between groups for both EC (T: 110 ± 26 kg vs. UT: 75 ± 20 kg; p<0.001) and LP (T: 240 ± 54 kg vs. UT: 150 ± 37 kg; p<0.001). No significant differences were identified between trained and untrained individuals for hemodynamic variables during the same exercise condition (p>0.05). However, significant time effects were observed for HR, SBP, DBP, and HPP after exercise in both groups (p<0.05; ηp² ranging from 0.90 to 0.95, indicating large effects). Multi-joint exercise (LP) was associated with greater increases in SBP, DBP, and HPP compared with single-joint exercise (EC), regardless of training status. Conclusion: multi-joint resistance exercise was associated with greater acute hemodynamic responses compared with single-joint exercise, regardless of previous RT experience. These findings suggest that exercise selection may exert greater influence on acute cardiovascular responses than training status.