Resting Heart Rate and the Association of Physical Fitness With Carotid Artery Stiffness

Abstract

Our findings attribute a key intermediary role for resting heart rate in the relationship between fitness and arterial stiffness, whereby higher cardiorespiratory fitness may reduce arterial stiffness mainly through resting heart rate, and higher muscular strength might have deleterious effects on arterial stiffness that are partially offset by lower resting heart rate.