Heart rate variability in ultra-trail runners

It is not trivial to understand the interactions between heart rate variability (HRV), activity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and exercise training. In this way, heart rate (HR) signals were analyzed. HR was recorded during a race of 82 km from two groups of runners performing different training regimes, Active and Elite. Several indexes from time-domain and frequency-domain analysis, time-frequency representation (TFR) and auto-mutual-information function (AMIF) were calculated on RR series in order to describe their dynamicity. TFR and AMIF indexes presented statistical significant differences when comparing the 1st and the 6th hour of the race (p<;0.002). LF/HF showed an increasing tendency in Active runners, and a decreasing tendency in Elite runners. Extremely low values of RR standard deviation were found in Elite runners.

[1]  M. Al-Ani,et al.  Changes in R–R variability before and after endurance training measured by power spectral analysis and by the effect of isometric muscle contraction , 1996, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[2]  A. Malliani,et al.  Heart rate variability. Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use , 1996 .

[3]  G. Breithardt,et al.  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. , 1996 .

[4]  A. Antoniadis,et al.  Relation between heart rate variability and training load in middle-distance runners. , 2000, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[5]  J. Townend,et al.  Changes in R-R variability before and after endurance training measured by power spectral analysis and by the effect of isometric muscle contraction , 1996, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[6]  S. Perrey,et al.  Decrease in heart rate variability with overtraining: assessment by the Poincaré plot analysis , 2004, Clinical physiology and functional imaging.

[7]  Mathias Baumert,et al.  Heart Rate Variability, Blood Pressure Variability, and Baroreflex Sensitivity in Overtrained Athletes , 2006, Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine.

[8]  F Louisy,et al.  Intense endurance training on heart rate and blood pressure variability in runners. , 2001, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[9]  A. Aubert,et al.  Heart Rate Variability in Athletes , 2003, Sports medicine.