Time course of sympathoadrenal adaptation to endurance exercise training in man

One possible reason for the lower exercise heart rate after endurance exercise training is that the sympathetic drive to the heart is reduced. We have studied the relationship between plasma catecholamines and heart rate during exercise in the course of a 7-wk training program. Six untrained subjects exercised vigorously (on bicycle ergometers and by running) 30--50 min/day for 7 wk. Prior to the beginning of training and at weekly intervals thereafter, participants were subjected to a 5-min strenuous bicycle ergometer test. In the test prior to training, plasma epinephrine increased to 0.5 ng/ml and norepinephrine increased to 3.0 ng/ml. The major proportion of the training-induced decrement in catecholamine response was reached at the end of the 3rd wk when epinephrine increased to 0.17 ng/ml and norepinephrine increased to 1.5 ng/ml in response to the same test. Heart rate during exercise continued to decrease even after the catecholamine response had plateaued, implying that the reduced sympathetic response is not solely responsible for the reduced exercise heart rate.