Key result
Alpine training camp linked to ~23-point increase in autonomic regulation among elite basketball players.
Why the study?
Athletic performance depends on physical and psychological elements assessable via HRV and questionnaires, and the study investigated whether a novel Autonomic Nervous System Indicator could detect expected cardiac autonomic regulation changes during elite training camps.
Does participation in a biweekly Alpine training summer camp improve cardiac autonomic regulation measured by ANSI in elite basketball players?
Observational (n=18)
No
Does participation in a biweekly Alpine training summer camp improve cardiac autonomic regulation measured by ANSI in elite basketball players?
A novel Autonomic Nervous System Indicator (ANSI) based on HRV can effectively monitor improvements in cardiac autonomic regulation during training camps in elite athletes.
May support ANSI monitoring of training effects in elite athletes; leaves open causality and generalizability beyond this small cohort.
In most sports athletic performance is determined by a combination of hard and soft modifiable components, encompassing physical and psychological elements that can be assessed with modern techniques based respectively on simple friendly methods: analysis of HRV and questionnaires. Specifically a novel % rank Autonomic Nervous System Indicator (ANSI) seems particularly useful also in elite sports. In this investigation we assessed ANSI capacity to detect the expected changes in cardiac autonomic regulation induced in the Italian basketball team by the participation (18 subjects) to the yearly biweekly Alpine training summer camp. We observed that ANSI increased from 58.8 ± 32.5 to 81.7 ± 27.5 (at the end of training camp) and did not change further in the subsequent initial weeks of competition season (overall p < 0.001). Congruent changes were observed in non-linear indices. Concomitantly indices of somatic symptoms were slightly reduced just at the end of the alpine training. We conclude that analysis of HRV and questionnaires might offer a simple, useful technique to monitor changes in cardiac autonomic regulation and psychological state in elite athletes providing a convenient additional element to evaluation of training routines also in the fields.
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Lucini et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Healthy elite athletes (Basketball) (n=18). Yearly biweekly Alpine training summer camp (athletic retreat) vs. Baseline (pre-retreat) was evaluated on Change in Autonomic Nervous System Indicator (ANSI) (p=<0.001). Participation in a two-week Alpine training summer camp significantly increased the Autonomic Nervous System Indicator from 58.8 to 81.7 in elite basketball players.
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