Buchheit M, Laursen PB, Ahmaidi S. Parasympathetic reactivation after repeated sprint exercise. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 293: H133-H141, 2007. First published March 2, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00062.2007.-The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of muscular power engagement, anaerobic participation, aerobic power level, and energy expenditure on postexercise parasympathetic reactivation. We compared the response of heart rate (HR) after repeated sprinting with that of exercise sessions of comparable net energy expenditure and anaerobic energy contribution. Fifteen moderately trained athletes performed 1) 18 maximal all-out 15-m sprints interspersed with 17 s of passive recovery (RS), 2) a moderate isocaloric continuous exercise session (MC) at a level of mean oxygen uptake similar to that of the RS trial, and 3) a high-intensity intermittent exercise session (HI) conducted at a level of anaerobic energy expenditure similar to that of the RS trial. Subjects were immediately seated after the exercise trials, and beatto-beat HR was recorded for 10 min. Parasympathetic reactivation was evaluated through 1) immediate postexercise HR recovery, 2) the time course of the root mean square for the successive R-R interval difference between successive 30-s segments (RMSSD30s) and 3) HR variability vagal-related indexes calculated for the last 5-min stationary period of recovery. RMSSD30s increased during the 10-min period after the MC trial, whereas RMSSD 30s remained depressed after both the RS and HI trials. Parasympathetic reactivation indexes were similar for the RS and HI trials but lower than for the MC trial (P Ͻ 0.001). When data of the three exercise trials were considered together, only anaerobic contribution was related to HR trial-derived indexes. Parasympathetic reactivation is highly impaired after RS exercise and appears to be mainly related to anaerobic process participation.heart rate recovery; vagal-related indexes; autonomic activity; sprint interval training REPEATED SPRINT (RS) training, characterized by recurring sessions of brief repeated bouts of supramaximal exercise, may be a time-efficient strategy for inducing metabolic adaptations in human skeletal muscle (15). Adaptations shown after a short time course of RS training include increased resting glycogen content (20), increased maximal activities of various enzymes involved in glycolytic (31) and oxidative energy provision (10,20), an increased H ϩ buffer capacity (17,20), and decreased cycling time-trial performance (10,15,20). As a result, RS training has been proposed as a viable alternative to classically prescribed submaximal endurance training (10,17,20).Today, there are growing social and psychological reasons to encourage RS training within clinical populations. First, RS training is remarkably time efficient and more compatible with the Western world's time-poor modern lifestyle. Second, the concept of RS training may also be more attractive than continuous exercise for sedentary individuals who have difficulty han...