Objective: T he scope of the present study has been to investigate the effects of oral supplementation with Arginine on blood pressure evolution in individu-als performing high intensity strength training (> 80%*1RPM).

Methods: 70 subjects, 30-45 years, non-smoker males with normal or mildly elevated blood pressure, recor-ded on the Holter monitoring, normal biology and echocardiography, performing regular strength trai-ning for at least 2 years with a minimum of 3 workouts per week. They were randomly divided in two groups, 35 males (AG) that followed a 6-month supplementati-on of their regular diets with 5 grams of oral Arginine powder, taken before their workout and 35 males con-sisting the control group (NAG). Both groups perfor-med blood pressure 24 hours monitoring at enrollment and at 6 months.

Results: Oral supplementation with Arginine impro-ved the average 24 hours blood pressure profile, both systolic (5.6 mmHg decrease in AG, p<0.05), and dias-tolic (4.5 mmHg decrease, p<0.05) values.

Conclusions: The results suggest that the oral supple-mentation with Arginine can improve vascular elasti-city, fighting against the stress provided on them by the strength training. This, can lead to an improved blood pressure control. Arginine can be a suitable adjuvant for controlling the blood pressure in athletes with mild hypertension.