Cardiac Autonomic Responses to Repeated Shuttle Sprints

Abstract

Team sport match play requires athletes to perform a number of repeated shuttle sprints. However, the acute effects of these repeated sprint sequences on lactic acidosis and resulting autonomic state perturbation are not known. The aim of this study was to observe and compare the blood lactate and post-exercise cardiac autonomic responses of a repeated shuttle-sprint ability test with the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test (30-15 (IFT)); the latter test representing a standard for exhaustive supramaximal effort. Thirteen adult team sport players performed the repeated shuttle-sprint ability test and the 30-15 (IFT) on separate days in a counter-balanced order. The repeated shuttle-sprint ability test consisted of six repetitions of maximal 2x15 m shuttle sprints ( approximately 5 s) departing every 20 s, while the 30-15 (IFT) involved progressive 30 s shuttle runs interspersed with 15 s of passive recovery until exhaustion. Blood lactate was measured before and after the tests, while autonomic responses were assessed using immediate heart rate recovery and heart rate variability indices. Peak blood lactate (10.6+/-2.1 vs. 10.2+/-2.8 mM) and heart beats recovered in one minute after exercise cessation (36.4+/-7.8 vs. 39.3+/-7.9 bpm) were similar after both the repeated shuttle-sprint ability test and the 30-15 (IFT). With the exception of the vagal-related time-varying root mean square of successive R-R interval differences at each 30 s, which recovered earlier after the repeated shuttle-sprint ability test compared with 30-15 (IFT), all heart rate variability indices decreased similarly after both tests in comparison to baseline values. In conclusion, the repeated shuttle-sprint ability test was shown to induce comparable levels of lactic acidosis and post-exercise autonomic state as the 30-15 (IFT). These levels of metabolic and autonomic states are likely to occur during team sport match play.

Is Baseline Cardiac Autonomic Modulation Related to Performance and Physiological Responses Following a Supramaximal Judo Test?

“…A similar depressed post-exercise cardiac autonomic response has been reported by other authors following the anaerobic Wingate Test [5-8], Repeated Shuttle Sprints [9], or varying protocols of interval running exercises [10], suggesting that the depression of parasympathetic HRV indices (i.e., high frequency power, HF; and root-mean-square difference of successive normal R-R intervals, rMSSD) appears to be a common response to exercises with a large anaerobic component. …”

Effect of Maturation on Hemodynamic and Autonomic Control Recovery Following Maximal Running Exercise in Highly Trained Young Soccer Players

“…While these results can be seen as contradictory to those discussed above, they confirm that post-exercise time-varying analysis (compared with an ANOVA design) might be a more sensitive way of assessing cardiac post-exercise ANS modulation (especially because of the higher number of measures, which increases statistical power; Nakamura et al, 2009). Post-exercise ANS regulation has been poorly characterized in adolescents, but greater vagal-related indices have been reported in active (Goulopoulou et al, 2006) and highly trained (Buchheit et al, 2010c) pre-PHV adolescents compared with their older (post-PHV) counterparts.…”

Postexercise autonomic function after repeated-sprints training

“…In this context, Buchheit et al (2007a) provided a strong rationale for using RS training, including (1) higher compatibility with Western society's time-poor lifestyle, (2) higher attractiveness for sedentary individuals, and (3) maintenance or increase in muscular strength. Several studies have reported, however, that short-term parasympathetic reactivation is impaired after RS running (Buchheit et al 2007a;Nakamura et al 2009;Niewiadomski et al 2007;Stuckey et al 2012), with only one study reporting any effect of a 9-week RS training programme on trained male adolescents (Buchheit et al 2008). To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has analysed the impact of adding RS training to the daily activities of healthy adults on postexercise autonomic function.…”

“…As such, it is considered a reliable way to induce metabolic adaptations in human skeletal muscle Girard et al 2011). Studies analysing the effects of RS exercise on postexercise PNS r have found it to be highly impaired (Buchheit et al 2007a;Nakamura et al 2009;Niewiadomski et al 2007;Stuckey et al 2012) due to the anaerobic processes involved in this type of exercise (Buchheit et al 2007a). Indeed, it is widely recognised that a lower level of PNS r after RS is related to the heightened sympathetic activity that occurs during RS exercise (Ray and Hume 1998) and to the persistent elevation of adrenergic factors (Hagberg et al 1979) and of local metabolites during recovery (e.g.…”