In contrast to hypertensive conditions described above,
when there is continuous pressure overload, the cardiovascular
response to this exercise model is characterized by the
intermittent increase in BP during exercise (6,7). An increase
of 480/350 (systolic and diastolic) BP has been shown in
bodybuilders while performing leg press exercise (6,7). Concentric
cardiac hypertrophy might also result from pressure
overload observed in many pathologic conditions, such as
hypertension (8). However, this type of hypertrophy is followed
by diastolic and/or systolic dysfunction and a disproportionate
increase in the thickness of the left ventricle posterior wall and
interventricular septum (8-10). Sometimes, the physiological
hypertrophy developed by high level strength athletes presents
a macroscopic structure similar to pathological hypertrophy,
which could be incorrectly interpreted as pathological. Moreover,
similar adaptations are usually found in athletes who use
anabolic steroids associated with resistance training (11). has also been found when these drugs were associated
aerobic training in experimental animals (12)