Investigating the use of pre-training measures of autonomic regulation for assessing functional overreaching in endurance athletes.
Alexandra M CoatesSarah HammondJamie F BurrPublished in: European journal of sport science (2018)
The use of heart rate variability (HRV) to inform daily training prescription is becoming common in endurance sport. Few studies, however, have investigated the use of pre-training HRV to predict decreased performance or altered exercising autonomic response, typical of functional overreaching (FOR). Further, a new cardiac vagal tone (ProCVT) technology purports to eliminate some of the noise associated with daily HRV, and therefore may be better at predicting same-day performance. The purpose of this investigation was to examine if changes to resting HRV and ProCVT were associated with alterations in performance, maximal heart rate (HRmax), or heart rate recovery (HRrec) in FOR athletes. Twenty-eight recreational cyclists and triathletes were assigned to experimental/control conditions and underwent: 1 week of reduced training, 3 weeks of overload (OL) or regular training (CON), and 1 week of recovery. Testing occurred following the reduced training week (T1), post-3 weeks of training (T2), and following the recovery week (T3). Measures of resting HRV/ProCVT were collected each testing session, followed by maximal incremental exercise tests with HRrec taken 60 s post-exercise. Performance decreased from T1 to T2 in the OL group vs. CON (Δ-9 ± 12 vs. Δ9 ± 11 W, P < .001), as did HRmax (Δ-8 ± 4 vs. Δ-2 ± 4 bpm, P < .001). HRrec increased from T1 to T2 in the OL group vs. CON (Δ10 ± 9 vs. Δ2 ± 5 beats/min, P < .01). HRV and ProCVT did not change in either group. Same-day resting autonomic measures are insufficient in predicting alterations to performance or exercising HR measures following overload training.
Keyphrases
- heart rate
- heart rate variability
- blood pressure
- virtual reality
- high intensity
- resistance training
- physical activity
- skeletal muscle
- randomized controlled trial
- heart failure
- left ventricular
- clinical trial
- mass spectrometry
- body composition
- atrial fibrillation
- study protocol
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- working memory