title: Blood pressure and heart rate reactivity to mental strain in adolescent judo athletes.
abstract: This exploratory investigation examined the association between maximal aerobic power (VO2max) and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) reactivity to mental challenge. Adolescent male judo athletes (n = 20) performed a 2-min mental arithmetic. Heart rate was recorded before, during, and after the arithmetic, and BP was recorded before and after the mental challenge. Blood pressure in the immediate stress-recovery period was not related to VO2max, but subjects having a higher maximal aerobic power showed faster HR recovery from mental stress than those having a lower VO2max. Subjects who showed earlier peak HR responses, during the stress episode, demonstrated lower average HR reactivity than subjects who attained the maximal HR response later in the stress period. The relationship between the interval to reach peak HR and the magnitude of reactivity deserves further attention. However, at present these findings should be viewed as tentative because of the uniqueness and size of the sample.
authors.affiliation: Université de Montréal, Département d'éducation physique, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Péronnet
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frenkl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petrekanits
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mészáros
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hetényi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Szabó
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016139:Martial Arts / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011603:Psychophysiology