Sympatho-excitatory manoeuvres are used to study vascular responsiveness in humans, but it is unclear if circulating adrenaline attenuates peripheral vasoconstriction during these manoeuvres. We hypothesized that vasoconstrictor responses to 3 manoeuvres (neck pressure, unilateral thigh-cuff release, and isometric hand-grip) would be greater after the administration of the -adrenergic blocker propranolol. Seven men and six women underwent these manoeuvres while beat-by-beat arterial pressure (finger photoplethysmography), femoral mean blood velocity (Doppler ultrasound), and femoral artery diameter (edge-detection software) were measured. Femoral vascular conductance was calculated as flow/pressure. Propranolol had no effect on baseline femoral vascular conductance (P > 0.05). As a result of neck pressure, femoral vascular conductance was reduced 23.9 ± 3.5 % before versus 33.2 ± 3.2 % after infusion of propranolol (P= 0.033). After thigh-cuff release, femoral vascular conductance declined 50.2 ± 5.8 % before versus 57.4 ± 9.6 % after propranolol infusion (P = 0.496). During handgrip, femoral vascular conductance was reduced 47.2 ± 9.6 % before versus 55.2 ± 9.2 % after propranolol administration (P = 0.447). After handgrip, women had a greater rise in conductance than men (women: 153 ± 16.2 %; men: 36.4 ± 10.6 %; P < 0.001), which was blunted by 54.8 % by propranolol (P < 0.001 vs control), but unaffected by propranolol in men (P = 0.355 vs control). The finding that -adrenergic receptor-mediated vasodilatation minimally affects vascular responses to these sympatho-excitatory manoeuvres reinforces their utility in the investigation of sympathetic vascular regulation in humans. Interestingly, post-handgrip hyperaemia is greater in women than men and is, in part, -adrenergic receptor mediated.