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Cardiac parasympathetic regulation: respective associations with cardiorespiratory fitness and training load

¹Laboratoire des Régulations Physiologiques et des Rythmes Biologiques chez l'Homme, Strasbourg; ²Institut de Médecine du Sport de Troyes, Troyes; and ³Laboratoire Mathématiques Appliquées aux Systèmes-Pôle Santé et Biotechnologies, École Centrale de Paris, Châtenay Malabry, France

Submitted 3 January 2006 ; accepted in final form 22 February 2006

The objective of this study was to establish the separate associations between parasympathetic modulations of the heart [evaluated through heart rate (HR) variability (HRV) indexes and postexercise HR recovery (HRR) indexes] with cardiorespiratory fitness and training load. We have measured cardiorespiratory fitness through peak oxygen consumption (O_{2 max}) and estimated weekly training load with the Baecke sport score in 55 middle-aged individuals (30.8 ± 1.8 yr, body mass index 24.5 ± 0.4 kg/m²). HRV indexes were analyzed at rest under controlled breathing, and HRR was estimated from HR curve fitting after maximal exercise or from measurements of the number of beats recovered at 60 s after exercise. Multiple linear regressions were used to investigate the separate relationships between vagal-related HRV indexes and O_{2 max} and Baecke scores. On the basis of their O_{2 max} and Baecke scores, subjects were classified as fit or unfit and as low trained (LT) or moderately trained (MT), which yielded four groups: Unfit_LT, Unfit_MT, Fit_LT, and Fit_MT. Vagal-related HRV indexes were positively correlated with O_{2 max} (P < 0.05) but not with Baecke scores. In contrast, HRR indexes were related to Baecke scores (P < 0.05) but not with O_{2 max}. Fit_LT and Fit_MT had significantly higher (P < 0.05) normalized vagal-related HRV indexes than Unfit_LT and Unfit_MT, but HRR did not change. Moderate training was associated with significantly lower HRR indexes both in Unfit_MT and Fit_MT compared with Unfit_LT and Fit_LT, but there was no difference in vagal-related HRV indexes. These results indicate that vagal-related HRV indexes are related more to cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas HRR appears to be better associated with training load.

vagal-related indexes; postexercise heart rate recovery; aerobic training

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