Key result
Lower resting HR in male athletes is strongly linked to greater exercise HR response.
Why the study?
It is unknown whether interrelations of resting and functional-test indices in athletes are independent of body size and differ by autonomic tone across game sports.
Cross-Sectional (n=206)
Effect estimate: ρ=-0.64
p-value: p=<0.001
Accessible resting and functional-test indices provide non-redundant, autonomic-tone-dependent information about athletes' cardiovascular functional state, supporting their use in sports monitoring.
May inform combined HR monitoring in male athletes; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation.
Purpose. Accessible resting and functional-test indices are widely used to monitor athletes, yet whether their interrelations are independent of body size and differ by autonomic tone across game sports is unknown. We compared morphofunctional, cardiovascular and autonomic indicators of athletes of five game sports and tested the interrelations of these indicators, including adjustment for body size and stratification by autonomic-regulation type. Materials & Methods. In a cross-sectional design, 206 qualified male athletes of five game sports (water polo, basketball, volleyball, handball, football) underwent anthropometry, spirometry, handgrip dynamometry, resting blood pressure measurement and the Martinet–Kushelevsky functional test (20 squats in 30 s). Classical indices (body mass index, vital index, Pignet, Robinson, Kerdo, Baevsky adaptation potential) and cardiovascular reactivity/recovery indices were computed. Kruskal–Wallis tests with epsilon-squared effect size, Spearman correlations with Benjamini–Hochberg correction, partial correlations adjusted for age and body mass, and separate correlations within sympathico- and parasympathicotonic subgroups (Kerdo sign) were applied; a sensitivity power analysis was performed. Results. Groups differed in most indicators, mostly with large effects. Of 300 pairs, 155 associations were significant (FDR<0.05). Lower resting heart rate related to a stronger heart-rate response, and reactivity to the completeness of recovery; these autonomic–recovery associations persisted after adjustment for age and body mass, whereas anthropometric–respiratory links were partly body-size-mediated. Several associations were more pronounced in parasympathicotonics. Conclusions. Accessible indices carry non-redundant, tone-dependent information about athletes’ functional state, supporting their combined, autonomic-type-stratified interpretation in monitoring.
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Свищ et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Qualified male athletes of five game sports (n=206). Game sport discipline and autonomic tone vs. Between-sport comparisons and autonomic-type subgroups was evaluated on Correlation between resting heart rate and heart-rate response to exercise (ρ=-0.64, p=<0.001). In male athletes across five game sports, lower resting heart rate was strongly associated with a greater heart-rate response to exercise (ρ=-0.64), independent of age and body mass.