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Autonomic modulations of heart rate variability and performances in short-distance elite swimmers

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Abstract

Purpose

Endurance exercise is associated with high cardiac vagal tone, but how the cardiac autonomic control correlates with shorter anaerobic performances is unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate how autonomic modulations of heart rate (HR) variability (V) correlate with performances of short- (<1 min) and very short (<30 s) duration in elite athletes.

Method

Thirteen male swimmers, national-level crawl specialists in short (100-m) and very short (50-m) distances, were enrolled. HR was recorded during 15-min supine rest: (1) in the morning after wake up, (2) in the afternoon before sprint-oriented training sessions, (3) few minutes after training (first recovery phase after swimming cooldown). Heart rate variability (HRV) vagal and sympatho/vagal indices were calculated in time, frequency and complexity domains. Correlations of best seasonal times on 100- or 50-m distances with HRV indices and the velocity at blood lactate accumulation onset (V OBLA) were calculated.

Results and conclusion

Vagal indices were highest in the morning where they positively correlated with very short-distance times (higher the index, worse is the 50-m performance). Sympatho/vagal indices were highest after training where they negatively correlated with short-distance times (higher the index, better is the 100-m performance). V OBLA did not correlate with the performances. Therefore, autonomic HRV indices and not V OBLA predict short and very short, most anaerobic, performances. Results also suggest that a strong cardiac vagal control has no effect on short performances and is even detrimental to very short performances, and that the capacity to powerfully increase the sympathetic tone during exercise may improve short, but not very short performances.

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Abbreviations

HF:

High-frequency power

HR:

Heart rate

HRV:

Heart rate variability

LFnu :

Normalized low-frequency power

NN:

Normal-to-normal R–R intervals

NN50+:

Hourly number of increases between consecutive NN intervals larger than 50 ms

NN50−:

Hourly number of decreases between consecutive NN intervals larger than 50 ms

pNN50+:

Proportion of beats with increases larger than 50 ms

pNN50−:

Proportion of beats with decreases lower than 50 ms

SampEn:

Sample entropy

SD1 :

Dispersion of Poincarè plots around the identity line

V OBLA :

Velocity at the onset of blood lactate accumulation

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank all the DDS athletes who participated in the study and their medical manager, Dr. F. Confalonieri, for the patience and courtesy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Via Colombo, 71, Milan, Italy

    Giampiero Merati, Martina Anna Maggioni, Pietro Luigi Invernizzi, Luca Agnello & Arsenio Veicsteinas

  2. IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, Italy

    Giampiero Merati & Paolo Castiglioni

  3. DDS Sport Center, Settimo Milanese, Milan, Italy

    Claudio Ciapparelli

  4. Department of Physiology, Center for Space Medicine and Extreme Environments, Charité University of Medicine, Berlin, Germany

    Martina Anna Maggioni

Authors
  1. Giampiero Merati
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  2. Martina Anna Maggioni
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  3. Pietro Luigi Invernizzi
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  4. Claudio Ciapparelli
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  5. Luca Agnello
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  6. Arsenio Veicsteinas
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  7. Paolo Castiglioni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martina Anna Maggioni.

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Communicated by Jean-René Lacour.

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Merati, G., Maggioni, M.A., Invernizzi, P.L. et al. Autonomic modulations of heart rate variability and performances in short-distance elite swimmers. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 825–835 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-3064-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-3064-x

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