A comparison of cardiac structure and function between female powerlifters, fitness-oriented athletes, and sedentary controls.

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To compare echocardiographic parameters between female powerlifters, fitness-oriented athletes, and sedentary controls. A between-subject, cross-sectional experimental design was adopted. Echocardiographic parameters were measured in female powerlifters (n=10; progressive overload 60%-95% of 1 repetition maximum [RM]), fitness-oriented athletes (n=10; 50%-70% of 1-RM), and sedentary control subjects (n=10). Comparisons were made with Kruskal-Wallis tests, one-way analyses of variance, and eta-squared (η2 ) interpreted as small=0.01-0.06, moderate=0.061-0.14, and large >0.14. Large differences (P>.05) were observed between resistance-trained groups and sedentary controls, whereby relative wall thickness (RWT) and left ventricular (LV) index were greater in powerlifters (RWT: 0.40±0.05, η2 =0.15; LV index: 95.6±13.6g/m2 , η2 =0.15) and fitness-oriented athletes (RWT: 0.40±0.05, η2 =0.15; LV index: 97.9±14.2g/m2 , η2 =0.20) compared to sedentary controls (RWT: 0.36±0.05; LV index: 85.9±10.3g/m2 ). Large differences were observed in intra-ventricular septal wall thickness (ISWT) and late diastolic velocity (a') between groups, whereby powerlifters exhibited lower a' (8.6±1.2cm/s) compared to fitness-oriented athletes (9.9±0.9cm/s, η2 =0.26, P=.04) and sedentary controls (9.6±0.9cm/s, η2 =0.19, P>.05), while fitness-oriented athletes exhibited greater ISWT (10.1±0.7mm) compared to sedentary controls (9.4±1.0mm, η2 =0.16, P>.05). Differences in cardiac structure between powerlifters, fitness-oriented athletes, and sedentary controls suggest specific cardiac remodeling may occur in response to resistance training, without impairment of cardiac function.