A influência da idade sobre a magnitude de recuperação da frequência cardíaca em indivíduos treinados

Abstract

Introduction: Heart rate recovery (HRR), defined as a decline in heart rate (HR) after exercise, is controlled by neurohumoral factors. There are two observed phases of HRR, the fast (vagal reactivation), which comprises the initial period between 60 and 120 seconds and the slow (sympathetic withdrawal), which goes until the return to rest values. Several factors may influence HRR, such as fitness level, gender, age and others. Objective: To test the hypothesis that there is a difference in the decline in HRR between trained adults and teenagers. Methods: 58 male soccer players were evaluated, divided into two groups: Teenagers (TG) and Adults (AG) aged 16.4 ± 0.5 and 27.9 ± 0.9 years, respectively. Anthropometric, HR and blood pressure (BP) analyzes were performed. Results: Both groups reached and exceeded the maximum heart rate (HRmax) predicted by age. The observed values were similar at the end of the HRR fast phase, while at the end of the slow phase the TG group obtained significantly higher values. Values of P<0.05 were considered significant. Conclusion: The results of the fast phase show that high levels of physical conditioning seem to attenuate the deleterious effect of age on vagal reactivation. The same effect was not observed on the sympathetic withdrawal during the slow phase; therefore, the TG group obtained higher HRR values during this period.Keywords: autonomic nervous system, stress test, heart rate, adult, teenagers.