CARDIOVASCULAR CHANGE IN ATHLETES AT DIFFERENT TRAINING STATUS LEVELS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Heart rate and blood pressure are important physiological indicators that reflect cardiovascular function, and they are widely used because they are convenient and practical to measure. Objective: To study the characteristics of cardiovascular changes in athletes under different training conditions. Methods: Thirty-four male students majoring in physical education in universities (group A) and 22 male non-sports majors (group B) with no formal training history were randomly selected. Heart rate before and after exercise and heart rate recovery rate at different stages of the recovery period were compared. Results: As regards heart rate changes in the recovery phase after loading, both groups showed a continuous decline, although the drop in heart rate of group A was slightly lower than that of group B (153.03± 15.88 beats/min, dropped to 110.69± 15.78 beats/minute, 171.00± 14.67 beats/minute dropped to 122. 82± 13.77 beats/min, respectively). However, the heart rate recovery rate of group A (59.40%) was significantly higher than that of group B (49.42%) (P<0.05). Conclusions: Physical exercise plays a significant role in promoting physical fitness and its effect on improving cardiovascular function is especially evident. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment results.

High-Intensity Functional Training Guided by Individualized Heart Rate Variability Results in Similar Health and Fitness Improvements as Predetermined Training with Less Effort

Heart rate variability (HRV) may be useful for prescribing high-intensity functional training (HIFT) exercise programs. This study aimed to compare effects of HRV-guided and predetermined HIFT on cardiovascular function, body composition, and performance. Methods: Recreationally-active adults (n = 55) were randomly assigned to predetermined HIFT (n = 29, age = 24.1 ± 4.1 years) or HRV-guided HIFT (n = 26, age = 23.7 ± 4.5) groups. Both groups completed 11 weeks of daily HRV recordings, 6 weeks of HIFT (5 d·week-1), and pre- and post-test body composition and fitness assessments. Meaningful changes in resting HRV were used to modulate (i.e., reduce) HRV-guided participants’ exercise intensity. Linear mixed models were used with Bonferroni post hoc adjustment for analysis. Results: All participants significantly improved resting heart rate, lean mass, fat mass, strength, and work capacity. However, no significant between-groups differences were observed for cardiovascular function, body composition, or fitness changes. The HRV-guided group spent significantly fewer training days at high intensity (mean difference = −13.56 ± 0.83 days; p < 0.001). Conclusion: HRV-guided HIFT produced similar improvements in cardiovascular function, body composition, and fitness as predetermined HIFT, despite fewer days at high intensity. HRV shows promise for prescribing individualized exercise intensity during HIFT.

Depression and Age-Related Changes in Body Composition, Cardiovascular Function, Grip Strength, and Lung Function

Individuals with mental disorders, on average, die prematurely, have higher levels of physical comorbidities and may experience accelerated ageing. In individuals with lifetime depression and healthy controls, we examined associations between age and multiple physiological measures. The UK Biobank study recruited &gt;500,000 participants, aged 37-73, between 2006–2010. Generalised additive models were used to examine associations between age and grip strength, cardiovascular function, body composition, lung function and bone mineral density. Analyses were conducted separately in males and females with depression compared to healthy controls. Analytical samples included up to 342,393 adults (mean age = 55.87 years; 52.61% females). We found statistically significant differences between individuals with depression and healthy controls for most physiological measures, with standardised mean differences between -0.145 and 0.156. There was some evidence that age-related changes in body composition, cardiovascular function, lung function and heel bone mineral density followed different trajectories in individuals with depression. These differences did not uniformly narrow or widen with age. For example, BMI in female cases was 1.1 kg/m2 higher at age 40 and this difference narrowed to 0.4 kg/m2 at age 70. In males, systolic blood pressure was 1 mmHg lower in cases at age 45 and this difference widened to 2.5 mmHg at age 65. Individuals with depression differed from healthy controls across a broad range of physiological measures. Differences in ageing trajectories differed by sex and were not uniform across physiological measures, with evidence of both age-related narrowing and widening of case-control differences.

Initial Derivation of a Predictive Model for Left Ventricular Longitudinal Strain (LS) in Early Sepsis

Septic shock is a common deadly disease often associated with cardiovascular dysfunction. Left ventricular longitudinal strain (LV LS) has been proposed as a sensitive marker to measure cardiovascular function; however, it is not available universally in standard clinical echocardiograms. We sought to derive a predictive model for LV LS, using machine learning techniques with the hope that we may uncover surrogates for LV LS. We found that left ventricular ejection fraction, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, sepsis source, height, mitral valve Tei index, LV systolic dimension, aortic valve ejection time, and peak acceleration rate were all predictive of LV LS in this initial exploratory model. Future modeling work may uncover combinations of these variables which may be powerful surrogates for LV LS and cardiovascular function.