Heart Rate Variability during Recovery from a Wingate Test in Adolescent Males

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of maturity status on the autonomic nervous system at rest and recovery after short-term, high-intensity exercise in adolescents. METHODS: A biological maturity age was estimated in 27 males by calculating the years from peak height velocity (PHV) using a multiple regression equation. Subjects were divided into two groups: pre-PHV (years from PHV 0.5, N = 13, mean age = 15.12 +/-0.76 yr). HR variability was used to evaluate autonomic function. ECG tracings were collected during 5 min at rest and recovery after a Wingate test and were analyzed in the frequency domain (low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF), LF/HF, total power (TP)). Data are presented as natural logarithms (LN). RESULTS: Changes in HR from HR(peak) during exercise to HR measured at minute 4 after exercise (DELTAHR4) were significantly greater in the pre-PHV group (84.31 +/-17.58 bpm) compared with the post-PHV group (69.42 +/-17.63 bpm). There were no significant differences in resting HR variability between pre- and post-PHV groups (P > 0.05). Significant group x time interactions were found for LF(LN) (ms(2)) and TP(LN) (ms(2)) measured during recovery (P 0.05). CONCLUSION: The pre-PHV group had higher total HR variability than the post-PHV group after a Wingate test, suggesting that maturity status significantly affects total HR variability during recovery after high-intensity exercise.