A Systematic Review on Heart-Rate Recovery to Monitor Changes in Training Status in Athletes

Abstract

Heart-rate recovery (HRR) can be defined as the rate at which heart rate declines, usually within minutes after the cessation of physical exercise. [1][2][3] The autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates both the initial increase in heart rate after the start of physical activity and the decrease in heart rate immediately after physical activity ends. The ANS is composed of a parasympathetic and a sympathetic branch that operate in a reciprocal and inverse manner: An increase in heart rate is caused by an increase in sympathetic activity combined with decreased parasympathetic drive, whereas HRR is characterized by parasympathetic reactivation and sympathetic withdrawal. [3][4][5][6][7] Cardiac output is adjusted during exercise based on the metabolic demand. The regulation occurs by intrinsic autoregulation of cardiac pumping (the so-called Frank-Starling law of the heart) and by sympathetic activation and parasympathetic deactivation, which increases heart rate and the contraction force of mainly the left ventricle. 8 Increased sympathetic activity combined with parasympathetic withdrawal (eg, during exercise) leads to reduced skin blood flow and increased blood flow to the muscles. 9 When the exercise stops, cardiac output is reduced by intrinsic autoregulation (by the ANS), more specifically by parasympathetic nervous system reactivation and inhibition of sympathetic impulses.Although it is well documented that changes in HRR coincide well with changes in training status in patient populations, 10 to our knowledge a systematic review on the use of HRR in athletes is missing. HRR may be an indicator of fitness, which is currently generally expressed in terms of VO 2max or VO 2peak , the maximum oxygen uptake during exhaustive exercise. Although VO 2max has a strong relationship with training status in a general population, it loses its predictive value for aerobic performance in already well-trained and elite athletes. 2 In addition, the typical error of measurement of VO 2max is relatively high, which makes VO 2max unreliable to monitor training changes over time. 2 In contrast, parameters such as HRR, peak power output, and/or peak treadmill running speed have lower typical errors of measurements, which makes them more sensitive to detect changes in training status.Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review on the use of HRR in athletes to track long-term changes in training status. Methods Data SourcesAn electronic literature search was performed in the digital databases of Scopus, EMBASE, and PubMed. The search terms used were a combination of heart/pulse rate(s), recovery/deceleration, (physical) exercise, and health(y) subjects/population. This search yielded 90 scientific articles (see Figure 1). Heart-rate recovery (HRR) has been proposed as a marker of autonomic function and training status in athletes. The authors performed a systematic review of studies that examined HRR after training. Five cross-sectional studies and 8 studies investigating changes over time (longitudinal)...

Heart rate variability is related to training load variables in interval running exercises

“…Delayed recovery of HR after physical exercise has been found as a risk factor for different cardiac complications (Cole et al 1999;Nissinen et al 2003) and is also a predictor of the training status of athletes (Daanen et al 2012). Increased vagal activity has been suggested to be responsible for the fast decrease of HR during the first minute after exercise cessation (Imai et al 1994;Perini et al 1989).…”

Influence of different characteristics of sport on heart rate recovery in elite athletes

“…Dobro je poznato da je bolja fizička kondicija usko povezana sa bržim oporavkom srčane frekvencije. To je posledica funkcionalne adaptacije srca usled redovne fizičke aktivnosti (3,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Oporavak srčane frekvencije se koristi i za praćenje treninga i procenu kondicije (15)(16)(17).…”

“…Oporavak srčane frekvencije se koristi i za praćenje treninga i procenu kondicije (15)(16)(17). Osim fizičke utreniranosti, oporavak srčane frekvencije nakon vežbanja zavisi i od drugih faktora: zamora, pola, uzrasta, pripadnosti etničkim grupama, vrste i načina vežbanja (12,14,(18)(19)(20). Ograničen je, međutim, broj podataka iz literature koji ilustruju razlike u dinamici srčane frekvencije u populaciji vrhunskih sportista koji se bave razlim tipovima sporta.…”

Variability in Heart Rate Recovery Measurements Over 1 Year in Healthy, Middle-Aged Adults

“…Post-exercise heart rate recovery (HRR) is not always recorded or monitored following exercise testing, this is despite the well-established associations of slow HRR with training status [10], cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality [8,9,19]. HRR has also been reported to be modified by the CHRM2 gene in sedentary and trained individuals [13].…”

“…However, other investigators found no difference in HRR reliability following submaximal and supramaximal exercise [1]. A recent review supports the use of HRR as a valuable tool to monitor changes in training status in athletes and less trained individuals, which would also encompass clinical populations, but they highlighted the need for the standardisation of HRR protocols [10].…”