Positive Relationship Between Precompetitive Sympathetic Predominance and Competitive Performance in Elite Extreme Sports Athletes

Abstract

Elite athletes achieve superior performance under high pressure in competitive situations. Although it is known that such situations affect the precompetitive activity of their autonomic nervous system (ANS), the relationship between precompetitive ANS activity and performance remains controversial. Especially in extreme sports, it has been shown that cardiac sympathetic tone occurs in athletes before competition attempts. However, the relationship between precompetitive sympathetic tone and performance is unclear. To investigate this relationship in extreme sports, we organized a freestyle snowboard jumping competition and examined competitors' physiological states and performance during this event. The electrocardiograms (ECGs) of 20 elite snowboarders were measured 10 min before each jump in different competitive situations: practice, qualifying, and final sessions. The mean heart rate (HR), the low-frequency to high-frequency component ratio (LF/HF ratio), the logarithm of the HF (lnHF) component of the frequency-domain of the heart rate variability (HRV), the ratio of the standard deviation of all R–R intervals to the root mean square of successive differences of R–R intervals (SDNN/rMSSD ratio), and the rMSSD of the time-domain of the HRV were calculated from the ECG data. The results showed a significant increase in the mean HR as well as significant decreases in the lnHF component and rMSSD of the HRV as the sessions progressed. Interestingly, the mean HR, LF/HF ratio and SDNN/rMSSD ratio of the HRV showed significant positive correlations with competitive scores, and the lnHF component and rMSSD of the HRV showed significant negative correlations with the scores. Our results indicate that precompetitive ANS activity becomes predominantly sympathetic in elite extreme athletes, such as freestyle snowboarders, when the competition intensifies, and that this sympathetic predominance is positively related to competitive performance.

Reliability of Symbolic Analysis of Heart Rate Variability and Its Changes During Sympathetic Stimulation in Elite Modern Pentathlon Athletes: A Pilot Study

“…Importantly, such changes of these SymDyn indexes (calculated using the Max–min and σ methods) were observed for all athletes. Successful detecting and recognizing individual athletes’ cardiac autonomic activity could be helpful in achieving better sport results as it was shown that, for example, sympathetic predominance prior and/or during competition could be advantageous for performance in extreme sports professional athletes ( Matsumura et al, 2021 ). Analysis of inter-individual responses of modifiable biomarkers to a specified stimulus may help in the identification of athletes that will benefit from practical techniques aimed at avoiding pre-performance stress and improve performance in sports.…”

“…Very recently (2021), Matsumura et al (2021) showed that sympathetic activity is dominant prior to competition attempts in elite athletes in a real-world sport event and concluded that sympathetic predominance before and/or during professional competition would be advantageous for performance in risky sports, such as snowboard jumping. Recognizing and modifying cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic activity could be useful for coaches, exercise scientists and/or sports physicians in helping athletes to improve their physical performance and achieve better sport results.…”

Training History, Cardiac Autonomic Recovery from Submaximal Exercise and Associated Performance in Recreational Runners

“…The precise mechanism underlying decreased performance at higher sympathetic outflow is not completely clear [ 44 ]; nevertheless, it is obvious that adaptation to exercise upon sympathetic overactivation at its onset is compromised [ 12 ] and that interplay of simultaneous sympathetic overactivation and parasympathetic decline may have a role. On the other hand, increased sympathetic tone positively correlates with the competitive performance [ 45 ] substantiated by better coordination, increased cardiac output, blood flow redistribution, and perfusion of exercising muscles [ 46 , 47 ].…”

Trial of Sportswear Type ECG Sensor Device for Cardiac Safety Management during Marathon Running

“…In an earlier study, in which participants in a snowboard jumping competition were equipped with the same ECG monitoring device as that used for this study, 15 datasets out of 20 were used for analyses [24]. Five datasets were excluded because of measurement errors (i.e., data transmission error and data loss because of short-circuiting between electrodes caused by excessive perspiration or because electrodes did not make suf ciently tight contact with the skin).…”