department of health and human services , the top four causes of death in the u.s . in 2011 were heart disease , malignant neoplasms ( cancer ) , chronic lower - respiratory diseases , and cerebrovascular disease ( stroke ) ( 8) . these conditions usually occur over a long period of time and may result in premature death . but there are risk factors that , if detected early and treated properly , may prevent disease from occurring . two common risk factors for heart disease are hypertension ( high blood pressure ) ( 2 ) and high resting heart rate ( 15 , 18 , 20 ) . although the prevalence of uncontrolled high blood pressure has declined for all age groups of men and women between 19881994 and 20072010 , in 20072010 , nearly one - half of adults with hypertension continued to have uncontrolled high blood pressure ( 17 ) . the association between blood pressure and greater incidence of cardiovascular disease ( cvd ) begins with  blood pressure levels as low as 115/75 mmhg , and doubles for each 20/10 mmhg increase in systolic / diastolic blood pressure  ( 2 ) . state that reducing systolic blood pressure by 2 mmhg may lower stroke and ischemic heart disease mortality by approximately 10% and 7% , respectively ( 12 ) . when compared to individuals whose resting heart rate levels remained below 70 beats per minute ( bpm ) , individuals whose resting heart rate levels increased from 70 bpm to greater than 85 bpm had a 90% higher risk of death from ischemic heart disease , and a 50% higher risk of death from all causes . fortunately , hypertension and high resting heart rate are modifiable through a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise ( 9 ) . one traditionally recommended method for the prevention and treatment of hypertension is continuous moderate - intensity training sustained for 30 minutes or more ( 2 ) . the acsm position statement on exercise and hypertension , states that exercise programs that primarily involve endurance activity prevent the development of hypertension and lower blood pressure ( 21 ) . adults meet federal recommendations of at least 150 min / wk of moderate - intensity or 75 min / wk of vigorous - intensity aerobic exercise , despite the many benefits regular exercise provides ( 30 ) . numerous studies have measured the effect of interval training ( it ) versus continuous training ( ct ) on resting blood pressure ( 3 , 6 , 10 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 3134 ) and resting heart rate ( 6 , 10 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 25 , 32 , 34 ) . a great amount of these studies it protocols resulted in a mean decrease in systolic blood pressure of 611 mmhg and a mean decrease in diastolic blood pressure of 47 mmhg ( 3 , 6 , 10 , 15 , 26 , 28 , 29 ) as well as a mean decrease in resting heart rate of 3.49.8 bpm ( 10 , 15 , 16 ) . conversely , the ct protocols resulted in a mean decrease in systolic blood pressure of 68 mmhg and a mean decrease in diastolic blood pressure of 45 mmhg ( 3 , 6 , 10 , 19 , 26 , 28 ) and a mean decrease in resting heart rate of 6.09.8 bpm ( 10 , 19 ) . the it protocol in each study varied , but most contained at least one minute or more of steady - state exercise ( heart rate sustained at the same intensity ) in each exercise interval ( 3 , 6 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 34 ) . there are many types of it protocols , including cardiowaves it ( cwit ) which has been  developed from 35 years of research and testing and drawing upon what world - class athletes already do to enhance their performance  ( 13 ) . the elite training protocol was modified to primarily focus on mind - body wellness by adding a more complete recovery interval . cwit is an it protocol in which heart rate is continually elevated or lowered during the entire workout in a wavelike pattern ( 13 ) . each exercise interval has a desired upper heart - rate target and each recovery interval has a desired heart rate personal - recovery range according to each individual s heart rate . wearing a heart rate monitor is preferred so heart rate can be measured throughout the exercise and recovery intervals . to lower heart rate in the recovery intervals , both physical and mental relaxation techniques are used ( 13 ) . recent efforts have been made to include both the physical body and the mind in defining overall health . this is known as mind - body medicine ( 5 ) or mind - body wellness ( 13 ) . for example ,  a  well person is satisfied in work , is spiritually fulfilled , enjoys leisure time , is physically fit , is socially involved , and has a positive emotional - mental outlook  ( 4 ) . it studies have shown an improved quality of life , as measured by self - report questionnaires ( 15 , 34 ) , with one of the studies specifically showing an additional improvement in social function ( 15 ) . all elements of an individual s life ( emotional , mental , physical , social , and spiritual ) affect one another ; therefore , exercise has the potential to influence the facets of wellness . the cwit method is designed to improve one s mind - body wellness by being mindful of what the body is doing during the exercise and recovery intervals ( 13 ) . increased mindfulness may increase the ability to relax , increase positive feelings , and reduce anxiety ( 13 ) . the hypothesis of this study is that those participating in cwit will experience a normalizing of resting blood pressure , lowering of resting heart rate , and improvement in mind - body wellness . studies have reported the effects of it on resting blood pressure and resting heart rate , but fewer studies have also considered the effects on mind - body wellness . to date , no published studies have tested cwit on the above variables . this experimental study considered the effects of exercise training on resting blood pressure , resting heart rate , and mind - body wellness . the participants were randomized into two groups : a cwit group and a ct group . a minimum sample size and minimum effect size power analysis ( with  of 0.05 ,  of 0.2 , and standard deviation of 12 for blood pressure ) was calculated to detect a change in blood pressure of 10 mmhg between the cwit group and the ct group . the power analysis indicated 23 participants per group would be needed to provide adequate statistical power . to accommodate a potential dropout rate of 10% , participants included males and females who currently had normotensive ( < 120/80 mmhg ) , pre - hypertensive ( 120139/8089 mmhg ) , and hypertensive ( > 140/90 mmhg ) blood pressure levels and were not taking blood pressure altering medications . to control for other blood pressure altering factors , participants were excluded for the following : currently smoking , having a bmi greater than 40 , or consuming alcohol and excessive amounts of caffeine ( > 400 mg / d ) within the last 24 h ( 1 ) . individuals were also excluded if they currently participated in intense regular physical activity , defined as a high  current physical - fitness - activity level ( 300 + min / wk of moderate - intensity or 150 + min of vigorous - intensity aerobic exercise ) , as these individuals may have already been experiencing a blood pressure lowering training effect ( 23 ) . participant recruitment via flyers occurred on the university campus , at local hospitals and physician clinics , on social media , and through referrals . medical clearance was required for participation in this study and included a record of each participant s blood pressure , bmi , and current physical - fitness - activity level . approval of the study protocol was obtained through the university institutional review board prior to data collection . fifty - two participants were randomly assigned to the cwit group or ct group through a stratified random sample to ensure that baseline resting blood pressure levels were equally distributed between the groups . all participants received written and verbal instruction on their assigned exercise protocol by a research assistant . additionally , all participants wore a rs300x polar heart - rate monitor ( polar electro oy , professorintie 5 , fi-90440 kempele , finland ) during each exercise session to monitor hr and to record each workout . the cwit group participated in the cwit protocol for 30 minutes per day , four days per week for eight weeks . the cwit participants started with a beginning level workout and gradually increased their intensity throughout the eight - week intervention . the beginner , intermediate , and advanced workouts as described in the cardiowaves book ( 13 ) were given to the participants as examples of workouts they could follow ( see table 1 ) . the participants were asked to increase the intensity of their workout when they felt the workout level was becoming too easy . the participant s resting heart rate and max hr were determined by a research assistant at the beginning of the intervention . the participants were instructed not to exceed their max hr during any of the workouts . the cwit protocol consisted of continuously elevating and lowering heart rate through the exercise and recovery intervals via any mode of cardiovascular physical activity , such as running , swimming , or using an elliptical . each exercise interval had a desired upper heart - rate target ( see table 1 for examples of varying levels of upper heart - rate targets ) . immediately after reaching the target , heart rate was actively lowered to the lowest pulse rate the participant could attain and within the recovery range ( resting heart rate plus 20 ) . the participant attained this by discontinuing the exercise , sitting down , and focusing on taking deep breaths to lower their heart rate as quickly as possible . as soon as the lowest recovery pulse was reached , heart rate was again elevated for the next exercise interval . the length of time for each exercise and recovery intervals varied due to how quickly each participant could elevate and lower his or her heart rate to the desired target . the ct group followed the current acsm exercise guidelines for hypertensive individuals ( 21 ) by participating in steady - state moderate - intensity exercise ( 40 < 60% of vo2 reserve ( 21 ) or hr reserve ( 27 ) ) for 30 minutes per day , four days per week for eight weeks via any mode of cardiovascular physical activity . a research assistant calculated the specific heart rate range for each ct participant by using a predicted maximum heart rate value ( 220 minus age ) and the participant s resting heart rate . the formula of maximum heart rate minus resting heart rate was used to determine heart rate reserve . the heart rate reserve value was then multiplied by .40 and .60 to determine the moderate - intensity heart rate range needed for each ct workout . every two weeks throughout the intervention a research assistant met with the participant to electronically download the workout data from the heart - rate monitor . the research assistant reviewed the participant s workouts to verify if the participant was performing the assigned exercise protocol correctly and instructed the participant on any necessary changes . to better control for confounding variables , the participants were asked to not change any lifestyle habits except the assigned exercise protocol . at the beginning and end of the study there was not a difference in the answers to these questions except for the participants exercise habits , which infers the participants complied with the requirements of the study . resting blood pressure , resting heart rate , and body mass were measured pre- and post - intervention . to avoid the acute lowering effect of blood pressure post - exercise ( 33 ) , each participant abstained from exercise 24 hours ( h ) prior to placement of an accutracker ii ambulatory blood pressure device ( abpd ) ( suntech medical , inc . , morrisville , nc ) . the abpd was worn for 24 h and took blood pressure and heart rate measurements three times per h ( about every 20 min ) from 6:00 am until 11:00 pm ( awake time period ) and once per h from 11:00 pm until 6:00 am the following day ( asleep time period ) . throughout the 24 h , if an error occurred , the abpd repeated the measurement . mind - body wellness was measured pre- and post - intervention via the following self - reported validated psychometric online questionnaires : brief inventory of perceived stress ( stress ) ( 11 ) , the functional assessment of chronic - illness therapy spiritual well - being scale ( spiritual well - being ) ( cronbach s a = .81.88 ) ( 22 ) , and worth index ( r = .86 , p < .001 ; test retest reliability r = .74 , p < these questionnaires were chosen to measure the components of mind - body wellness : stress , spiritual well - being , and perception of self - worth . a decrease in scores on the stress survey indicates a decrease in overall stress while an increase in scores on the spiritual well - being survey indicates an increase in spiritual well - being . the worth index survey has four subscales : 1 ) basic human worth , 2 ) personal security , 3 ) performance , and 4 ) appearance . an increase in scores means an improvement in one s perception of his / her individual worth the individual perceives self - worth to be inherent rather than dependent on outside influences . these questionnaires were administered using qualtrics online survey software ( qualtrics , provo , ut ) , included a total of 58 questions , and required approximately 515 minutes to complete . the participants received a ft1 polar heart - rate monitor as compensation for completing the study and to provide motivation to continue exercising post - intervention . statistical analysis software ( sas ) , version 9.3 ( cary , nc ) was used for data analysis . the abpd resting blood pressure data , abpd heart - rate data , and mind - body wellness data were analyzed using ancova , with the abpd data additionally analyzed using regression analysis . this experimental study considered the effects of exercise training on resting blood pressure , resting heart rate , and mind - body wellness . the participants were randomized into two groups : a cwit group and a ct group . a minimum sample size and minimum effect size power analysis ( with  of 0.05 ,  of 0.2 , and standard deviation of 12 for blood pressure ) was calculated to detect a change in blood pressure of 10 mmhg between the cwit group and the ct group . the power analysis indicated 23 participants per group would be needed to provide adequate statistical power . to accommodate a potential dropout rate of 10% , participants included males and females who currently had normotensive ( < 120/80 mmhg ) , pre - hypertensive ( 120139/8089 mmhg ) , and hypertensive ( > 140/90 mmhg ) blood pressure levels and were not taking blood pressure altering medications . to control for other blood pressure altering factors , participants were excluded for the following : currently smoking , having a bmi greater than 40 , or consuming alcohol and excessive amounts of caffeine ( > 400 mg / d ) within the last 24 h ( 1 ) . individuals were also excluded if they currently participated in intense regular physical activity , defined as a high  current physical - fitness - activity level ( 300 + min / wk of moderate - intensity or 150 + min of vigorous - intensity aerobic exercise ) , as these individuals may have already been experiencing a blood pressure lowering training effect ( 23 ) . participant recruitment via flyers occurred on the university campus , at local hospitals and physician clinics , on social media , and through referrals . medical clearance was required for participation in this study and included a record of each participant s blood pressure , bmi , and current physical - fitness - activity level . approval of the study protocol was obtained through the university institutional review board prior to data collection . fifty - two participants were randomly assigned to the cwit group or ct group through a stratified random sample to ensure that baseline resting blood pressure levels were equally distributed between the groups . all participants received written and verbal instruction on their assigned exercise protocol by a research assistant . additionally , all participants wore a rs300x polar heart - rate monitor ( polar electro oy , professorintie 5 , fi-90440 kempele , finland ) during each exercise session to monitor hr and to record each workout . the cwit group participated in the cwit protocol for 30 minutes per day , four days per week for eight weeks . the cwit participants started with a beginning level workout and gradually increased their intensity throughout the eight - week intervention . the beginner , intermediate , and advanced workouts as described in the cardiowaves book ( 13 ) were given to the participants as examples of workouts they could follow ( see table 1 ) . the participants were asked to increase the intensity of their workout when they felt the workout level was becoming too easy . the participant s resting heart rate and max hr were determined by a research assistant at the beginning of the intervention . the participants were instructed not to exceed their max hr during any of the workouts . the cwit protocol consisted of continuously elevating and lowering heart rate through the exercise and recovery intervals via any mode of cardiovascular physical activity , such as running , swimming , or using an elliptical . each exercise interval had a desired upper heart - rate target ( see table 1 for examples of varying levels of upper heart - rate targets ) . immediately after reaching the target , heart rate was actively lowered to the lowest pulse rate the participant could attain and within the recovery range ( resting heart rate plus 20 ) . the participant attained this by discontinuing the exercise , sitting down , and focusing on taking deep breaths to lower their heart rate as quickly as possible . as soon as the lowest recovery pulse was reached , heart rate was again elevated for the next exercise interval . the length of time for each exercise and recovery intervals varied due to how quickly each participant could elevate and lower his or her heart rate to the desired target . the ct group followed the current acsm exercise guidelines for hypertensive individuals ( 21 ) by participating in steady - state moderate - intensity exercise ( 40 < 60% of vo2 reserve ( 21 ) or hr reserve ( 27 ) ) for 30 minutes per day , four days per week for eight weeks via any mode of cardiovascular physical activity . a research assistant calculated the specific heart rate range for each ct participant by using a predicted maximum heart rate value ( 220 minus age ) and the participant s resting heart rate . the formula of maximum heart rate minus resting heart rate was used to determine heart rate reserve . the heart rate reserve value was then multiplied by .40 and .60 to determine the moderate - intensity heart rate range needed for each ct workout . every two weeks throughout the intervention a research assistant met with the participant to electronically download the workout data from the heart - rate monitor . the research assistant reviewed the participant s workouts to verify if the participant was performing the assigned exercise protocol correctly and instructed the participant on any necessary changes . to better control for confounding variables , the participants were asked to not change any lifestyle habits except the assigned exercise protocol . at the beginning and end of the study there was not a difference in the answers to these questions except for the participants exercise habits , which infers the participants complied with the requirements of the study . resting blood pressure , resting heart rate , and body mass were measured pre- and post - intervention . to avoid the acute lowering effect of blood pressure post - exercise ( 33 ) , each participant abstained from exercise 24 hours ( h ) prior to placement of an accutracker ii ambulatory blood pressure device ( abpd ) ( suntech medical , inc . , the abpd was worn for 24 h and took blood pressure and heart rate measurements three times per h ( about every 20 min ) from 6:00 am until 11:00 pm ( awake time period ) and once per h from 11:00 pm until 6:00 am the following day ( asleep time period ) . throughout the 24 h , if an error occurred , the abpd repeated the measurement . mind - body wellness was measured pre- and post - intervention via the following self - reported validated psychometric online questionnaires : brief inventory of perceived stress ( stress ) ( 11 ) , the functional assessment of chronic - illness therapy spiritual well - being scale ( spiritual well - being ) ( cronbach s a = .81.88 ) ( 22 ) , and worth index ( r = .86 , p < .001 ; test retest reliability r = .74 , p < .001 ) ( 14 ) . these questionnaires were chosen to measure the components of mind - body wellness : stress , spiritual well - being , and perception of self - worth . a decrease in scores on the stress survey indicates a decrease in overall stress while an increase in scores on the spiritual well - being survey indicates an increase in spiritual well - being . the worth index survey has four subscales : 1 ) basic human worth , 2 ) personal security , 3 ) performance , and 4 ) appearance . an increase in scores means an improvement in one s perception of his / her individual worth the individual perceives self - worth to be inherent rather than dependent on outside influences . these questionnaires were administered using qualtrics online survey software ( qualtrics , provo , ut ) , included a total of 58 questions , and required approximately 515 minutes to complete . the participants received a ft1 polar heart - rate monitor as compensation for completing the study and to provide motivation to continue exercising post - intervention . statistical analysis software ( sas ) , version 9.3 ( cary , nc ) was used for data analysis . the abpd resting blood pressure data , abpd heart - rate data , and mind - body wellness data were analyzed using ancova , with the abpd data additionally analyzed using regression analysis . the majority of the participants were caucasian ( 97% ) , married ( 88% ) , and working part - time or full - time ( 73% ) . each participant s body mass , and consequently bmi , did not change significantly for the duration of the intervention . at the beginning of the study , baseline resting blood pressure and heart rate were not significantly different across participants ( see table 3 ) . approximately half of the participants had resting blood pressure in pre - hypertensive or hypertensive ranges , and the other half of the participants were in normotensive ranges ( see table 4 ) . the participants were asked to complete a total of 32 workouts over the eight - week study . all participants completed an average of 27  6.33 workouts , with 64% of both the cwit group and the ct group completing more than 27 workouts . therefore , a total of 47 participants ( 15 females and 32 males ) were included in the analysis . the abpd data output gave an average measurement for resting systolic blood pressure ( sbp ) , diastolic blood pressure ( dbp ) , and heart rate ( hr ) for the awake , asleep , and total period the abpd was worn . the covariates age , gender , bmi , and workout compliance ( number of completed workouts ) were used in the analysis to see if any of the variables had an impact on resting blood pressure or hr levels . after the initial analysis , group ( cwit or ct ) was also included as a covariate to determine any within- and between - group differences . the ct group had a statistically significant decrease in awake sbp ( p = 0.01 ) and total sbp ( p = 0.01 ) . gender was a covariate that was statistically significant for all blood pressure measures , except asleep dbp ( p = 0.09 ) . table 6 shows the change in resting blood pressure by gender . with both groups combined , the female participants had a statistically significant decrease in awake sbp ( p = 0.002 ) , asleep sbp ( p = 0.01 ) , total sbp ( p = 0.003 ) , awake dbp ( p = 0.02 ) , and total dbp ( p = 0.05 ) . the male participants had a statistically significant increase in total dbp ( p = 0.05 ) . a total of 10 post - intervention surveys were not completed  five from the participants who dropped out and five from participants that had missing post - intervention survey data . therefore , a total of 42 pre- and post - intervention survey results were included in the analysis . table 8 shows the change in the results of the mind - body wellness surveys . the cwit group had a statistically significant reduction in stress ( p = 0.002 ) and the ct group had a statistically significant increase in spiritual well - being ( p = 0.005 ) . the cwit group had statistically significant improvement with their perceptions of their personal security ( p = 0.03 ) as related to their individual self - worth . additionally , the ct group had statistically significant improvement with their perceptions of their performance ( p = 0.003 ) and perceptions of their appearance ( p = 0.01 ) . this study examined the effects of cwit and ct on resting blood pressure , resting hr , and mind - body wellness . the data obtained from the study displayed a trend of reduced sbp for both cwit and ct , but ct led to significantly lowered sbp when compared to cwit . no consistent change in hr was found in either group , but mind - body wellness improved for both cwit and ct . hence , the results of the present study add to the current literature comparing it and ct protocols . research comparing various it protocols with ct protocols has found conflicting blood pressure results . many have found it and ct equally effective at decreasing blood pressure ( mean sbp / dbp decrease of 6/4 and median sbp / dbp decrease of 2/4 mmhg ) ( 3 , 6 , 10 , 26 , 28 ) or both exercise protocols showing no change in blood pressure ( 16 , 25 , 31 , 32 , 34 ) . , however , found ct lowered blood pressure more than it with a sbp / dbp mean decrease of 8/5 mmhg ( 19 ) . the results of the current study are similar in that ct lowered blood pressure more than cwit , but with a sbp / dbp decrease of about 4/2 mmhg . having a greater number of participants with blood pressure in pre - hypertensive or hypertensive ranges could potentially lead to a larger reduction in resting blood pressure levels with ct or cwit . it has been established in the literature that when normotensive and hypertensive participants follow the same exercise program , blood - pressure reduction is greatest in the hypertensive participants ( 21 ) . with both groups combined , the female participants had a significant reduction in blood pressure while the male participants blood pressure increased . many it studies have included both female and male participants , but did not report a significant difference between genders ( 6 , 15 , 16 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 34 ) . ( 33 ) included only male participants in their it studies and saw a 8/5 mmhg reduction and 2/7 mmhg reduction in blood pressure , respectively . on the other hand , ciolac et al . included only female participants and found only a 2/2 mmhg reduction in blood pressure ( 3 ) . the findings of the present study adds to the inconsistency in the literature regarding blood pressure change difference between genders , suggesting a need for further investigation into gender differences with it and ct . other studies results were similar , indicating no change in resting hr ( 25 , 32 , 34 ) . however , some research found it to be more effective than ct ( mean decrease of 3.4 bpm ) ( 15 , 16 ) while others found ct more effective than it ( mean decrease of 6.0 bpm ) ( 19 ) . if the participants had higher baseline resting heart - rate levels , training effects for lowering hr may have been noted . the ct group had a statistically significant increase in spiritual well - being while the cwit group had a statistically significant reduction in stress . a unique component of cwit is lowering the heart rate to the lowest attainable point during the recovery interval . this is meditative in nature due to the practice of ridding the conscious mind of stressors in order to lower hr ( 13 ) . one study found it improved quality of life more than ct ( 34 ) whereas another found both it and ct equally improved quality of life ( 15 ) , which is consistent with this study . further research is needed to clarify the effect of it and ct on stress , spiritual well - being , and one s perceptions of self - worth . the study was a randomized controlled experimental study , which allows for possible inference to a similar population of that used in the study . the recovery interval of cwit and the moderate - intensity of ct made it possible for almost anyone to participate independent of their current fitness level or age . abpds were used to measure resting blood pressure levels , which gave a complete accounting of blood pressure fluctuations over a long period of time , from which a more representative blood pressure mean was calculated . this was advantageous because one - time clinical assessment is subject to variation due to situation - specific influences on blood pressure ( 7 ) . the ability to monitor blood pressure over 24 h accounted for possible outside influences that could have artificially altered blood pressure outcomes . there were also limitations with this study . because the questionnaires used in this study were self - reported , there was limited control over the accuracy of individual s responses . also , the participants completed their exercise protocol under free - living conditions ; therefore the researchers had very little , if any , control over other confounding factors that may have influenced the study outcome . one hope for this study was to recruit mostly participants with baseline pre - hypertensive blood pressure levels to increase potential for determining a blood - pressure lowering effect for the different training protocols . the medical clearance form was used to verify baseline blood pressure levels and other inclusion criteria required to accept each participant into the study . because this baseline blood pressure measurement was taken by a medical professional at one point in time ( either with a manual or automatic blood pressure cuff ) some of the participants resting pre - abpd measurements did not match up with their reported baseline levels , meaning there were more participants with lower true baseline blood pressure levels than was hoped for . this finding is in accordance with pickering et al . who state abpd measurements are typically lower than clinical blood pressure measurements ( 24 ) . for future studies , using abpd measurement as part of the screening process of potential participants will ensure participants baseline blood pressure is within pre - hypertensive or hypertensive ranges . in conclusion , this study revealed that cwit and ct exercise programs reduced resting blood pressure , with ct having a greater effect . additionally , both cwit and ct improved mind - body wellness which adds to the current minimal amount of literature on exercise and mind - body wellness . individuals similar to the population in this study , especially females , may experience lowered blood pressure and improved mind - body wellness with participation in cwit and ct . further research of cwit is recommended to understand gender differences in blood pressure reduction and to investigate the null result of resting heart rate change seen in this study . also , further examination of exercise and its effect on mind - body wellness may provide depth into possible reasons for the improvement experienced .
an experimental study to examine the effects of cardiowaves interval training ( cwit ) and continuous training ( ct ) on resting blood pressure , resting heart rate , and mind - body wellness . 
 fifty - two normotensive ( blood pressure < 120/80 mmhg ) , pre - hypertensive ( 120139/8089 mmhg ) , and hypertensive ( > 140/90 mmhg ) participants were randomly assigned and equally divided between the cwit and ct groups . 
 both groups participated in the assigned exercise protocol 30 minutes per day , four days per week for eight weeks . 
 resting blood pressure , resting heart rate , and mind - body wellness were measured pre- and post - intervention . 
 a total of 47 participants ( 15 females and 32 males ) were included in the analysis . 
 the cwit group had a non - significant trend of reduced systolic blood pressure ( sbp ) and increased diastolic blood pressure ( dbp ) while the ct group had a statistically significant decrease in awake sbp ( p = 0.01 ) and total sbp ( p = 0.01 ) and a non - significant decrease in dbp . with 
 both groups combined , the female participants had a statistically significant decrease in awake sbp ( p = 0.002 ) , asleep sbp ( p = 0.01 ) , total sbp ( p = 0.003 ) , awake dbp ( p = 0.02 ) , and total dbp ( p = 0.05 ) . 
 the male participants had an increase in sbp and dbp with total dbp showing a statistically significant increase ( p = 0.05 ) . 
 neither group had a consistent change in resting heart rate . 
 both groups showed improved mind - body wellness . 
 cwit and ct reduced resting blood pressure , with ct having a greater effect . resting heart rate did not change in either group . 
 additionally , both cwit and ct improved mind - body wellness .