RT-219
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Endurance training improves
vagally-mediated heart rate recovery after exercise in hypertensive athletes. Assessment
by heart rate spectral analysis
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Gaetano Diricatti, Vincenzo
Cupelli*, Paolo Manetti, Loira Toncelli, Bruno Cappelli, Giorgio Galanti**, Gian Franco
Gensini.
*Istituto di Medicina del Lavoro, **Scuola di Medicina Sportiva, Istituto di
Clinica Medica Generale e Cardiologia, Universita di Firenze, Italy
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Abstract
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Background. Vagally-mediated heart
rate recovery has been shown to be an important mechanism to avoid excessive cardiac work
after exercise; it is accelerated in well trained athletes. On the other hand alterations
of this mechanism are apparent in several pathologic conditions as heart failure and
hypertension.
The aim of the study was to find out if endurance-exercise training can improve
vagally-mediated heart rate recovery in hypertensive athletes.
Methods. Twelve male hypertensive athletes (aged 31-56 yr) who had
been performing 4 hours of aerobic activity per week for at least 1 year, were evaluated
at rest, at peak and 10 minutes after medium intensity (75 watt) cycle-ergometer exercise.
They were compared both with 10 age-matched normotensive endurance athletes and 8
sedentary hypertensives.
Results. In hypertensive athletes heart rate recovery after dynamic
exercise is faster than in sedentary hypertensives, although not accelerated as in well
trained athletes. Heart rate spectral analysis confirms that such rapid decrease in heart
rate is vagally-mediated as HF component and the LF to HF ratio returned to basal
conditions after 10 minutes of recovery only in hypertensive and normotensive athletes but
not in sedentary hypertensives.
Conclusions. Endurance training can affect the response to dynamic
exercise in hypertensive athletes and improve heart rate recovery by means of resetting
sympatho-vagal balance.
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Key Words
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Arrhythmias in athletes
endurance training, vagally-mediated heart rate recovery, heart rate spectral analysis,
hypertension, dynamic exercise, sympatho-vagal balance, OA
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