Cardiac autonomic disturbance following resistance and sprint-interval exercises in non-obese and obese young men

Abstract

This study examined the alterations of heart rate variability (HRV) following iso-duration resistance (RES) and sprint-interval (SIE) exercises by comparing with that of non-exercise control (CON) in 14 non-obese (NOB) and 15 obese (OB) young men. Time and frequency domain measures as well as non-linear metrics of HRV were assessed before and immediately after exercise, and during every 20 min until 120 min post exercise. The variables during the first 4 hrs of actual sleep time at night, and the period of 12-14 hrs post exercise were also measured. All trials were scheduled at 20:00. It was found that RES and SIE attenuated the HRV in both NOB and OB (P <0.05), and the attenuated HRV restored progressively during subsequent recovery. Although the changes in HRV indices among various time points during the recovery period and its interaction across RES, SIE and CON were not different between NOB and OB, the restoration of the declined HRV indices to corresponding CON level in the two exercise trials in OB appeared to be sluggish in relative to NOB. Notwithstanding, post-exercise HRV that recorded during actual sleep at night and during 12-14 hrs apart from exercise were unvaried among the three trials in both groups (P>0.05). These findings suggest that obesity is likely to be a factor hindering the removal of exercise-induced cardiac autonomic disturbance in young men. Nonetheless, the declined HRV following both the RES and SIE protocols were well restored after a resting period of ~10 hrs regardless of obesity. 
 The study was registered at ISRCTN as DOI:10.1186/ISRCTN88544091.

The effects of acute exercise and a nap on heart rate variability and memory in young sedentary adults

“…Our findings are consistent with several previous studies that showed decreases in cardiac autonomic modulation during the waking period or nocturnal sleep following acute daytime or evening exercise interventions (Hautala et al., 2001; Hynynen et al., 2010; Nie et al., 2022; Oda & Shirakawa, 2014; Yoshida et al., 2018) found decreases in HF and RMSSD along with increased HR during nighttime sleep after an afternoon moderate endurance exercise for 52 min relative to the rest day in healthy physically active men, suggesting a disturbance of cardiac autonomic modulation after the exercise. Similarly, in moderately active young adults, Oda and Shirakawa (2014) showed that an acute session of 40‐minute moderate‐intensity exercise an hour before bedtime resulted in an increased HR with markedly lower HF at bedtime than after a control day (Oda & Shirakawa, 2014).…”

“…More recently, Nie et al. (2022) found that a bout of resistance and sprint‐interval exercise in 29 obese and non‐obese young men attenuated HRV indices, with no alteration in post‐exercise HRV during the subsequent nighttime sleep. However, these studies did not involve nap interventions and/or assess memory performance (Dias et al., 2021; Hynynen et al., 2010; Nie et al., 2022; Peçanha et al., 2014).…”

“…Conversely, Hynynen et al (2010) found an increase in nocturnal heart rate (HR) and a decrease in the HF after an afternoon moderate-intensity exercise lasting 52 min relative to the rest day in 10 healthy physically active young men. More recently, Nie et al (2022) found that a bout of resistance and sprint-interval exercise in 29 obese and non-obese young men attenuated HRV indices, with no alteration in post-exercise HRV during the subsequent nighttime sleep. However, these studies did not involve nap interventions and/or assess memory performance (Dias et al, 2021;Hynynen et al, 2010;Nie et al, 2022;Peçanha et al, 2014).…”

“…Parasympathetic reactivation after aerobic exercise also appears dependent on exercise modality with faster recovery following cycling than running as it involves a lower muscular activity (Cunha et al, 2015;Michael et al, 2017). In general, research findings regarding the acute effects of daytime or evening exercises at low-to-moderate intensity on cardiac autonomic modulation are mixed, with some studies reporting no alteration (Dias et al, 2021;Peçanha et al, 2014;Prodel et al, 2017;Yuda et al, 2018) and others showing decreases (Hynynen et al, 2010;Nie et al, 2022;Oda & Shirakawa, 2014;Ye et al, 2022;Yoshida et al, 2018) in HRV indices during the post-exercise recovery period. Dias et al (2021), for example, observed no differences in HRV indices expressed in natural logarithms in the rest period after a morning moderate-intensity ergometer cycling compared with a control condition in 11 sedentary young men.…”