High-intensity interval training provoked greater acute parasympathetic suppression than volume-oriented training but yielded superior competitive outcomes in wrestlers (mean score 17.92 vs. 15.08).
Does heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring improve training load management and recovery in combat sports athletes?
Routine HRV monitoring can facilitate individualized periodization and prevent overtraining in combat sports athletes by tracking autonomic nervous system balance.
Absolute Event Rate: 17.92% vs 15.08%
Background: Elite combat sports such as wrestling, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu impose high physiological demands, necessitating precise training load management and recovery to prevent non-functional overreaching and overtraining syndrome. Heart rate variability has gained prominence as a non-invasive biomarker of autonomic nervous system balance and internal training load. Aim: This narrative review synthesizes evidence on HRV's application for monitoring stress, recovery, and optimizing training in combat sports athletes. Material and methods: A narrative synthesis of 23 peer-reviewed articles was conducted, drawing from databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus. Focus areas included HRV physiological mechanisms, associations with performance, and combat sport-specific findings, prioritizing parameters such as RMSSD, HF power, and LF/HF ratio. Results: Time-domain and frequency-domain HRV metrics robustly indicate parasympathetic reactivation and systemic recovery. High-intensity interval training provokes greater acute parasympathetic suppression (e.g., RMSSD -32% vs. -14%) and sympathetic dominance (LF/HF +56% vs. +22%) than volume-oriented training, yet yields superior competitive outcomes in wrestlers (mean score 17.92 vs. 15.08). HRV thresholds differentiate functional adaptation (RMSSD ≈ 82.76 ms) from non-functional overreaching (≈45.97 ms) Conclusions: Routine HRV monitoring facilitates individualized periodization, bioadaptive load adjustments, and overtraining prevention, enhancing performance sustainability in combat sports.
Rodziewicz et al. (Thu,) conducted a review in Combat sports athletes (n=23). High-intensity interval training (HIIT) vs. Volume-oriented training was evaluated on Competitive outcomes (mean score). High-intensity interval training provoked greater acute parasympathetic suppression than volume-oriented training but yielded superior competitive outcomes in wrestlers (mean score 17.92 vs. 15.08).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: