Abstract
We evaluated the effect of physical training, stress, anthropometric measures, and gender upon the reactivity and recovery of the heart rate variability (HRV) during a cardiorespiratory test. Professors (N = 54) were evaluated using the following: physical training: time, frequency, and length of physical exercise; resting heart rate (HR); maximum HR; and recovery HR; stress: stress symptoms, work stress, vital events, and perceived stress; anthropometric measures: body mass index, waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and fat percentage (FP); and HRV before, during, and after the test. The HRV decreased during and increased after the test. Increased recovery HR was associated with the decreased vagal output during the test, and decreased recovery HR was associated with the increased posttest vagal input. The higher the work control and stress symptoms of men and the higher the perceived stress for both genders, the lower the vagal output during the test. The lower stress symptom and work control of men and the lower work demand of women were associated with the posttest vagal increase. The increased WC and decreased WHR of men were associated with the lower vagal output during the test and the lower posttest vagal increase. The lower FP also was associated with the greater recovery.
Highlights
The cardiac autonomic changes, including the parasympathetic decrease and sympathetic increase, inherent to physical exercise, create a situation which favors ventricular ectopic activities, which might culminate in cardiac arrest or sudden death [1]
The concept of vagal flexibility has been used to explain a high autonomic reactivity to a specific stimulus and the return of this response to baseline values quickly afterwards [3]. Such ability can best be observed by studying the autonomic nervous system, for example, by analyzing the heart rate variability (HRV)
This study presents some relevant points: the sample homogeneity (Brazilian professors of a public university) and multiple variables collected on the same sample
Summary
The cardiac autonomic changes, including the parasympathetic (vagal) decrease and sympathetic increase, inherent to physical exercise, create a situation which favors ventricular ectopic activities, which might culminate in cardiac arrest or sudden death [1]. Albert et al [2] proposed the model of “window of exposure” to cardiovascular risks According to those authors, due to the unfavorable autonomic state during a few minutes after physical exercise, physical activity increases exposure to cardiovascular risks, which only ends when the autonomic parameters return to the resting values. Due to the unfavorable autonomic state during a few minutes after physical exercise, physical activity increases exposure to cardiovascular risks, which only ends when the autonomic parameters return to the resting values This issue is related to the responsive adaptation of vagal activity, which in turn might be regarded as a kind of flexibility. The concept of vagal flexibility has been used to explain a high autonomic reactivity to a specific stimulus and the return of this response to baseline values quickly afterwards [3]. Such ability can best be observed by studying the autonomic nervous system, for example, by analyzing the heart rate variability (HRV)
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