Purpose:
To determine whether an active video game session promoted post-exercise hypotension, similar to walking.

Methods:
Fifteen hypertensive subjects (49.0 ± 1.6 years) of both genders performed five randomized sessions, lasting 60 minutes: 1) active video game; 2) sedentary video game; 3) walking on a treadmill with moderate intensity; 4) walking on a treadmill with similar intensity to the active video game; and 5) control without exercise. Blood pressure and cardiac autonomic modulation measurements were taken at rest and every 10 minutes post exercise for 60 minutes.

Results:
The active video game promoted a reduction in systolic blood pressure (-14.4 ± 3.0 mmHg, p < 0.0001) similar to walking on a treadmill with moderate intensity (-16.9 ± 3.3 mmHg, p < 0.0001), whereas the control group without exercise did not demonstrate a blood pressure reduction. The sedentary video game also demonstrated a reduction in systolic blood pressure (-10.0 ± 3.1 mmHg, p = 0.0039), statistically similar to the active video game and walking on a treadmill with similar intensity to the active video game (8.7 ± 2.9 mmHg, p = 0.0034). Regarding the diastolic component, the active video game (-7.6 ± 1.5 mmHg, p < 0.0001), walking on a treadmill with moderate intensity (-8.3 ± 2.9 mmHg, p = 0.0042), and the sedentary video game (-7.5 ± 2.7 mmHg, p = 0.0098) produced similar reductions in diastolic blood pressure. The active video game was a procedure that promoted a sympathetic-vagal balance reduction from pre-exercise to 60 minutes post exercise (4.2 ± 0.8 to 2.3 ± 0.5, p = 0.0486).

Conclusions:
Active video game play promoted a similar reduction in blood pressure compared to traditional walking exercise with the advantage of promoting reduction in the sympathetic inflow to the heart.