Heart rate variability during cycloergometric exercise or judo wrestling eliciting the same heart rate level

This study compared heart rate variability (HRV) in ten male judokas between two types of exercise eliciting the same near-maximal average heart rate (HR): judo wrestling vs. cycloergometric bout. Beat-to-beat RR intervals were recorded during (1) a 4-min judo randori (wrestling); (2) a 4-min cycloergometric exercise eliciting maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2MAX)). Time series were analyzed both by short term Fourier transform (STFT) and Poincaré plot (PP). The main results are as follows. First, despite the fact that the same maximal HR was reached during the two exercises, the spectral energy computed from the judo recordings was significantly higher than that recorded from the cycloergometric exercise. Second, according to the PP index of rapid HRV (SD1), the high-frequency spectral energy (HF) was significantly higher during judo than cycloergometric exercise as well. Third, judo spectra show chaotic harmonics in place of the precise HF peak observed during cycloergometric exercise. Fourth, the respective parts of normalized LFn and HFn are not different between the two exercise modes, suggesting that autonomic control during severe exercise cannot depend on the type of exercise. In conclusion, this study shows that it is possible, according to the observed kind of variability from RR time series, to differentiate between two types of effort: steady-state dynamic exercise or conversely exercise made of both isometric and irregular dynamic efforts (wrestling, collective sports, and others).