Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Heart rate recovery and parasympathetic modulation in boys and girls following maximal and submaximal exercise

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined heart rate recovery (HRR) and heart rate variability (HRV) following submaximal and maximal exercise in boys (n = 13; 10.1 ± 0.8 years) and girls (n = 12; 10.1 ± 0.7 years).

Methods

Participants completed 10 min of supine rest followed by a graded exercise test to maximal effort. On a separate day, participants performed submaximal exercise at ventilatory threshold. Immediately following both exercise bouts, 1-min HRR was assessed in the supine position. HRV variables were analyzed under controlled breathing in the time and frequency domains over the final 5 min of rest and recovery.

Results

There were no significant differences in HRR following maximal and submaximal exercise between boys (58 ± 8 and 59 ± 8 beats min−1, respectively) and girls (54 ± 6 and 52 ± 19 beats min−1, respectively). There also were no significant interactions between groups from rest to recovery from maximal exercise for any HRV variables. However, there was a difference in the response between sexes from rest to recovery from submaximal exercise for log transformed standard deviation of NN intervals (lnSDNN) and log transformed total power (lnTP). No differences were observed for lnSDNN at rest (boys = 4.61 ± 0.28 vs. girls = 4.28 ± 0.52 ms) or during recovery (lnSDNN: boys 3.78 ± 0.46 vs. girls 3.87 ± 0.64 ms and lnTP: boys 7.33 ± 1.09 vs. girls; 7.44 ± 1.24 ms2). Post hoc pairwise comparisons showed a significant difference between boys and girls for lnTP at rest (boys = 9.14 ± 0.42 vs. girls = 8.30 ± 1.05 ms2).

Conclusion

Parasympathetic modulation was similar between boys and girls at rest and during recovery from exercise, which could explain similarities observed in HRR.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

HF:

High-frequency power

HFnu:

High-frequency power normalized units

HR:

Heart rate

HRR:

Heart rate recovery

HRV:

Heart rate variability

ln:

Natural log

pNN50:

Percentage of consecutive NN intervals differing by more than 50 ms

PNS:

Parasympathetic nervous system

RER:

Respiratory exchange ratio

RMSSD:

Root mean square of successive RR intervals

RPE:

Ratings of perceived exertion

SDNN:

Standard deviation of NN intervals

TP:

Total power

VE :

Pulmonary ventilation

VO2 :

Oxygen consumption

VO2max :

Maximal oxygen consumption

VT:

Ventilatory threshold

W:

Watts

References

  • Anderson CS, Mahon AD (2007) The relationship between ventilatory and lactate thresholds in boys and men. Res Sports Med 15:189–200

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aubert AE, Seps B, Beckers F (2003) Heart rate variability in athletes. Sports Med 33:889–919

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baraldi E, Cooper DM, Zanconato S, Armon Y (1991) Heart rate recovery from 1 minute of exercise in children and adults. Pediatr Res 29:575–579

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berntson GG, Bigger JT Jr, Eckberg DL, Grossman P, Kaufmann PG, Malik M, Nagaraja HN, Porges SW, Saul JP, Stone PH, van der Molen MW (1997) Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiology 34:623–648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown TE, Beightol LA, Koh J, Eckberg DL (1993) Important influence of respiration on human R-R interval power spectra is largely ignored. J Appl Physiol 75:2310–2317

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buchheit M, Al HH, Mendez-Villanueva A, Quod MJ, Bourdon PC (2011) Effect of maturation on hemodynamic and autonomic control recovery following maximal running exercise in highly trained young soccer players. Front Physiol 2:69

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Camm AJ, Malik M, Bigger JT Jr, Breithardt G, Cerutti S, Cohen RJ, Coumel P, Fallen EL, Kennedy HL, Kleiger RE, Lombardi F, Malliani A, Moss AJ, Rottman JN, Schmidt G, Schwartz PJ, Singer DH (1996) Heart rate variability. Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use. Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Eur Heart J 17:354–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole CR, Blackstone EH, Pashkow FJ, Snader CE, Lauer MS (1999) Heart-rate recovery immediately after exercise as a predictor of mortality. N Engl J Med 341:1351–1357

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Darr KC, Bassett DR, Morgan BJ, Thomas DP (1988) Effects of age and training status on heart rate recovery after peak exercise. Am J Physiol 254:H340–H343

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davrath LR, Akselrod S, Pinhas I, Toledo E, Beck A, Elian D, Scheinowitz M (2006) Evaluation of autonomic function underlying slow postexercise heart rate recovery. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38:2095–2101

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz A, Laufer MR, Breech LL (2006) Menstruation in girls and adolescents: using the menstrual cycle as a vital sign. Pediatrics 118:2245–2250

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner MS, Hathaway D, Tolley B (2003) Cardiovascular autonomic function in healthy adolescents. Heart Lung 32:10–22

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming S, Thompson M, Stevens R, Heneghan C, Pluddemann A, Maconochie I, Tarassenko L, Mant D (2011) Normal ranges of heart rate and respiratory rate in children from birth to 18 years of age: a systematic review of observational studies. Lancet 377:1011–1018

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberger JJ, Challapalli S, Tung R, Parker MA, Kadish AH (2001) Relationship of heart rate variability to parasympathetic effect. Circulation 103:1977–1983

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberger JJ, Le FK, Lahiri M, Kannankeril PJ, Ng J, Kadish AH (2006) Assessment of parasympathetic reactivation after exercise. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 290:H2446–H2452

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goto M, Nagashima M, Baba R, Nagano Y, Yokota M, Nishibata K, Tsuji A (1997) Analysis of heart rate variability demonstrates effects of development on vagal modulation of heart rate in healthy children. J Pediatr 130:725–729

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goulopoulou S, Heffernan KS, Fernhall B, Yates G, Baxter-Jones AD, Unnithan VB (2006) Heart rate variability during recovery from a Wingate test in adolescent males. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38:875–881

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guilkey JP, Overstreet M, Fernhall B, Mahon AD (2014) Heart rate response and parasympathetic modulation during recovery from exercise in boys and men. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 39:969–975

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hagberg JM, Hickson RC, Ehsani AA, Holloszy JO (1980) Faster adjustment to and recovery from submaximal exercise in the trained state. J Appl Physiol 48:218–224

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Imai K, Sato H, Hori M, Kusuoka H, Ozaki H, Yokoyama H, Takeda H, Inoue M, Kamada T (1994) Vagally mediated heart rate recovery after exercise is accelerated in athletes but blunted in patients with chronic heart failure. J Am Coll Cardiol 24:1529–1535

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Javorka M, Zila I, Balharek T, Javorka K (2002) Heart rate recovery after exercise: relations to heart rate variability and complexity. Braz J Med Biol Res 35:991–1000

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kannankeril PJ, Le FK, Kadish AH, Goldberger JJ (2004) Parasympathetic effects on heart rate recovery after exercise. J Investig Med 52:394–401

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleiger RE, Stein PK, Bosner MS, Rottman JN (1992) Time domain measurements of heart rate variability. Cardiol Clin 10:487–498

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laguna M, Aznar S, Lara MT, Lucia A, Ruiz JR (2013) Heart rate recovery is associated with obesity traits and related cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 23:995–1001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lippman N, Stein KM, Lerman BB (1994) Comparison of methods for removal of ectopy in measurement of heart rate variability. Am J Physiol 267:H411–H418

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahon AD, Anderson CS, Hipp MJ, Hunt KA (2003) Heart rate recovery from submaximal exercise in boys and girls. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:2093–2097

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mendonca GV, Heffernan KS, Rossow L, Guerra M, Pereira FD, Fernhall B (2010) Sex differences in linear and nonlinear heart rate variability during early recovery from supramaximal exercise. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 35:439–446

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Michels N, Clays E, De BM, Huybrechts I, Marild S, Vanaelst B, De Henauw S, Sioen I (2013) Determinants and reference values of short-term heart rate variability in children. Eur J Appl Physiol 113:1477–1488

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moodithaya S, Avadhany ST (2012) Gender differences in age-related changes in cardiac autonomic nervous function. J Aging Res 2012:679345

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ohuchi H, Suzuki H, Yasuda K, Arakaki Y, Echigo S, Kamiya T (2000) Heart rate recovery after exercise and cardiac autonomic nervous activity in children. Pediatr Res 47:329–335

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pels AE III, Gilliam TB, Freedson PS, Geenen DL, MacConnie SE (1981) Heart rate response to bicycle ergometer exercise in children ages 6-7 years. Med Sci Sports Exerc 13:299–302

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rogowski MP, Guilkey JP, Stephens BR, Cole AS, Mahon AD (2012) The influence of maturation on the oxygen uptake efficiency slope. Pediatr Exerc Sci 24:347–356

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seals DR, Victor RG, Mark AL (1988) Plasma norepinephrine and muscle sympathetic discharge during rhythmic exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol 65:940–944

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer F, McCraty R, Zerr CL (2014) A healthy heart is not a metronome: an integrative review of the heart’s anatomy and heart rate variability. Front Psychol 5:1040

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silvetti MS, Drago F, Ragonese P (2001) Heart rate variability in healthy children and adolescents is partially related to age and gender. Int J Cardiol 81:169–174

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simhaee D, Corriveau N, Gurm R, Geiger Z, Kline-Rogers E, Goldberg C, Eagle KA, Jackson EA (2013) Recovery heart rate: an indicator of cardiovascular risk among middle school children. Pediatr Cardiol 34:1431–1437

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singh TP, Rhodes J, Gauvreau K (2008) Determinants of heart rate recovery following exercise in children. Med Sci Sports Exerc 40:601–605

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner J (1962) Growth at adolescence. Blackford Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp 32–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Turley KR (1997) Cardiovascular responses to exercise in children. Sports Med 24:241–257

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Umetani K, Singer DH, McCraty R, Atkinson M (1998) Twenty-four hour time domain heart rate variability and heart rate: relations to age and gender over nine decades. J Am Coll Cardiol 31:593–601

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Washington RL, van Gundy JC, Cohen C, Sondheimer HM, Wolfe RR (1988) Normal aerobic and anaerobic exercise data for North American school-age children. J Pediatr 112:223–233

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams CA, Lopes P (2002) The influence of ventilatory control on heart rate variability in children. J Sports Sci 20:407–415

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The investigators would like to acknowledge Brittany Wilkerson, M.S. for her help in placing electrodes on the female participants and James Jones, Ph.D. for his advice on the statistical methods used in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. No funding was received for this study.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 47303, USA

    J. P. Guilkey, M. Overstreet & A. D. Mahon

Authors
  1. J. P. Guilkey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Overstreet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. D. Mahon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. P. Guilkey.

Additional information

Communicated by Massimo Pagani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guilkey, J.P., Overstreet, M. & Mahon, A.D. Heart rate recovery and parasympathetic modulation in boys and girls following maximal and submaximal exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 2125–2133 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3192-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3192-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation