Detailed heart rate variability analysis in athletes.

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine and Physiology
• Cardiovascular Health
• Autonomic Nervous System Function

Background:

• Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is a key tool for assessing cardiovascular health.
• Previous HRV research predominantly focused on pathological conditions, neglecting athletic populations.
• Understanding HRV in athletes is crucial for performance optimization and health monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate HRV differences across various training intensities and sports in healthy athletes.
• To compare HRV parameters between elite athletes, masters athletes, and non-athletic controls.
• To establish normative HRV values specific to athletic populations.

Main Methods:

• Time-domain HRV analysis was conducted using Holter monitoring (21.3 ± 3.0 hours).
• The study included 138 athletes (elite and masters) and 100 healthy non-athletic controls.
• Data analysis focused on key HRV parameters like SDNN, SDNN Index, pNN50, and RMSSD.

Main Results:

• Elite athletes demonstrated significantly higher HRV parameters (SDNN, SDNN Index, pNN50, RMSSD) compared to controls (p < 0.001).
• Masters athletes showed higher HRV than controls, with no significant difference between elite and masters athletes.
• Specific sports modalities (canoeing-kayaking, cycling) showed variations in HRV compared to running.

Conclusions:

• Elite athletes possess significantly different autonomic regulation, as indicated by HRV, compared to healthy controls.
• HRV in athletes is influenced by sport type and performance level, not age or sex.
• This study provides essential athletic normal HRV values, highlighting potential applications in training optimization and overtraining detection.