Heart rate recovery in elite athletes: the impact of age and exercise capacity

Summary There is compelling evidence that postexercise heart rate recovery ( HRR ) is a valid indicator of sympaticovagal balance. It is also used in prescription and monitoring of athletic training. The purpose of our study was to determine HRR after maximal exercise among elite athletes with respect to age. A total of 274 elite male Caucasian athletes were randomly selected from the larger sample and divided into two groups: adolescent (group Y) and adult athletes (≥18 years; group A). They performed maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing on a treadmill. Heart rate recovery was calculated as the rate of decline of HR from peak exercise to rates 1, 2 and 3 min after cessation of exercise ( HRR 1, HRR 2 and HRR 3). A significantly higher HRR 1 was found in group A (29·5 ± 15·6 versus 22·4 ± 10·8, P <0·001), but HRR 3 was higher in group Y (82·7 ± 10·2 versus 79·9 ± 12·25; P = 0·04). Stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis showed that, among all subjects, the HRR 1 alone was independently associated with age ( P <0·001). The maximal oxygen consumption ( VO 2 max) was in a negative relationship with HRR 1 and in a positive one with HRR 3 ( P <0·05) with respect to all athletes. The HRR during 3 min postexercise should be reported for the purpose of better assessing functional adaptation to exercise among elite athletes as well as the age‐associated differences in recovery. Higher values of HRR 1 should be expected in older athletes, and HRR 3 could be used as an index of aerobic capacity, irrespective of age.