Abstract only Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors associated with functional limitations and an increased risk of CV mortality. Resting diastolic function is thought to be altered in MetS and may contribute to increased CV risk and functional deficiency. Using echocardiography we explored the relationship between resting diastolic function and left ventricular (LV) contractile reserve capacity, assessed by the change from rest to peak exercise in end‐systolic elastance (ΔEes), in Mets (n=21) and healthy controls (n=13). MetS had resting diastolic dysfunction and a 15% decrease in ΔEes (p<0.05) vs. controls. Univariate analysis, used to examine the correlation between ΔEes and resting diastolic function revealed that ΔEes was related to LV end‐diastolic pressure (EDP), the transmitral to mitral annular early diastolic velocity ratio (E/e’), the diastolic stiffness constant (β), and the isovolumetric relaxation time constant (τ) (p<0.05). We used multivariate analysis to examine the relationship between ΔEes and diastolic function after adjusting for age and metabolic risk score (MRS: the sum of risk points selected for specific CV risk factors). After adjusting for age and MRS, ΔEes remained associated with LV EDP, E/e’, β, and τ (p<0.05), suggesting a link between resting diastolic dysfunction and altered CV reserve in metabolic disease states. AHA 11CRP7370056, 5T32HL090610–04.