Monitoring heart rate variability before and after a marathon in an elite wheelchair athlete: A case study

Santiago Sanz-Quinto, Gabriel Brizuela, Raúl López-Grueso, Andrew A. Flatt, Adolfo Aracil-Marco, Raúl Reina, Manuel Moya-Ramón

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze heart rate variability (HRV) oscillations before and after a marathon which involved trans-meridian air travel and substantial time zone differences in a professional wheelchair athlete with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. The natural logarithm of the root mean square difference between adjacent normal R-R intervals (Ln rMSSD) was measured daily on the days before, including and following the race. Relative to baseline, small (-3.8 –-4.6%) reductions in LnRMSSD were observed following relocation and on race-day, indicating only minor effects of travel on cardiac-autonomic activity. On the morning following the marathon, a 23.1% reduction in Ln rMSSD was observed, which returned to baseline by 48 h. The race time set by the athlete was the world-leading time in his class. This case study showed that Ln rMSSD responses to marathon in an elite wheelchair athlete with CMT was similar to those previously reported among unrestricted endurance athletes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)557-562
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Sports Science and Medicine
Volume17
Issue number4
StatePublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Athletics
  • Autonomic nervous system
  • Cardiac autonomic modulations
  • Paralympic

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