Heart rate variability and psychometric responses to overload and tapering in collegiate sprint-swimmers

Andrew A. Flatt, Bjoern Hornikel, Michael R. Esco

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

75 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiac-parasympathetic and psychometric responses to competition preparation in collegiate sprint-swimmers. Additionally, we aimed to determine the relationship between average vagal activity and its daily fluctuation during each training phase. Design Observational. Methods Ten Division-1 collegiate sprint-swimmers performed heart rate variability recordings (i.e., log transformed root mean square of successive RR intervals, lnRMSSD) and completed a brief wellness questionnaire with a smartphone application daily after waking. Mean values for psychometrics and lnRMSSD (lnRMSSDmean) as well as the coefficient of variation (lnRMSSDcv) were calculated from 1 week of baseline (BL) followed by 2 weeks of overload (OL) and 2 weeks of tapering (TP) leading up to a championship competition. Results Competition preparation resulted in improved race times (p < 0.01). Moderate decreases in lnRMSSDmean, and Large to Very Large increases in lnRMSSDcv, perceived fatigue and soreness were observed during the OL and returned to BL levels or peaked during TP (p < 0.05). Inverse correlations between lnRMSSDmean and lnRMSSDcv were Very Large at BL and OL (p < 0.05) but only Moderate at TP (p > 0.05). Conclusions OL training is associated with a reduction and greater daily fluctuation in vagal activity compared with BL, concurrent with decrements in perceived fatigue and muscle soreness. These effects are reversed during TP where these values returned to baseline or peaked leading into successful competition. The strong inverse relationship between average vagal activity and its daily fluctuation weakened during TP.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)606-610
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Volume20
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2017

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

Keywords

  • Autonomic
  • Fatigue
  • Monitoring
  • Parasympathetic
  • Smartphone

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