Investigating the Effects of Endurance Training on Heart Rate Variability in Female Swimmer Athletes

<p>It is important for elite endurance athletes to have practical and reliable means of measuring fatigue throughout their training. Variations in Autonomic Nervous System activity (ANS) may provide an effective marker of fatigue and of recovery. ANS control of heart rate is well known to be affected by exercise training, and those adaptations can be determined using measures of heart rate variability (HRV). Previous research has examined the effect of training on HRV and ANS control of heart rate in males, there is a lack of any comprehensive studies that address adaptations in female athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in HRV and ANS fluctuations in female swimmer athletes throughout an entire collegiate swim season. 9 Division I female swimmers (Age: 20.6±1.01) were used to determine HRV at three different points in their competitive training: pre-season, mid-season, and post-season. During each testing session, HRV was measured both at rest and during a maximal 400 yd freestyle swim. Heart rate values were determined using Polar™ heart rate monitors, and the HRV analyses was conducted using Kubios 2.0 HRV analysis software. Global ANS balance was shown to significantly shift towards Sympathetic (SNS) predominance during the mid-season testing and significantly shift towards parasympathetic (PNS) predominance during post-season testing. HRV analysis appears to be an appropriate tool to monitor the effects of physical training loads on performance and fitness in female athletes, and it can be used to help identify and prevent overtraining states.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Kinesiology (M.S.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Health and Kinesiology

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Beck, Joshua G

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kristina Kendall
• Stephen Rossi
• Jim McMillan

• ETD
• Heart Rate Variability
• Endurance
• Swimming
• Female
• Autonomic Nervous System
• Sports Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1049

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-2092