Abstract
Physiological training responses depend on sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) balance. This activity can be measured using heart rate variability (HRV). Such a measurement method can favor individualized training planning to improve athletes’ performance. Recently, HRV-guided training has been implemented both on professional and amateur sportsmen and sportswomen with varied results. There is a dearth of studies involving professional endurance athletes following a defined HRV-guided training protocol. The objectives of the proposed protocol are: (i) to determine changes in the performance of high-level athletes after following an HRV-guided or a traditional training period and (ii) to determine differences in the athletes’ performance after following both training protocols. This will be a 12-week cluster-randomized controlled protocol in which professional athletes will be assigned to an HRV-based training group (HRV-G) or a traditional-based training group (TRAD-G). TRAD-G will train according to a predefined training program. HRV-G training will depend on the athletes’ daily HRV. The maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) attained in an incremental treadmill test will be considered as the primary outcome. It is expected that this HRV-guided training protocol will improve functional performance in the high-level athletes, achieving better results than a traditional training method, and thus providing a good strategy for coaches of high-level athletes.
Highlights
It is known that training is essential for improving physical performance [1] and that optimizing training for performance improvement in athletes is an important area of research within exercise physiology and sports medicine [2,3,4]
The following will be taken into account: (i) having cardiovascular pathologies, abnormal blood pressure parameters or diagnosed respiratory problems; (ii) being treated for psychological problems, or regularly taking a drug(s) that has a direct or indirect effect on the nervous system; (iii) substance use that is not permitted by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF); (iv) occasional consumption of medication for a disease related to the cardiorespiratory system that might alter performance and (v) not performing at least 90% of the workouts during the intervention
An informative talk will be carried out with the required commitment by the athletes to measure their daily Heart rate variability (HRV) according to the established protocol, athletes and the coach to inform them of the study objective, the time period in which it will take to attend the pre and post-test sessions and to attend at least 90% of the training sessions
Summary
It is known that training is essential for improving physical performance [1] and that optimizing training for performance improvement in athletes is an important area of research within exercise physiology and sports medicine [2,3,4]. In this regard, different training methods for performance improvement have been tried and tested, such as intensified training [2,5,6] and submaximal tests [7]. Public Health 2020, 17, 5465; doi:10.3390/ijerph17155465 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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