2.5. Blood Pressure Assessment
Resting arterial BP was measured both before and after the intervention using an electronic blood pressure sphygmomanometer (Panasonic EW31092, Newark, NJ, USA). Each participant sat in a quiet environment for 10 min, and the BP of their left arm, positioned on a table at heart level, was measured twice. Mean values for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were recorded. If the two measurements provided values that differed by more than 2%, a third measurement was taken, and the mean value of the two closest measurements was selected for the data analysis. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was calculated using the following equation, MAP = [(2/3 × DBP) + (1/3 × SBP)].