title: Heart rate response to ultraendurance cycling.
abstract: The heart rate (HR) response to ultraendurance cycling is poorly understood. This case report describes the exercise intensity of ultraendurance cycling by means of HR monitoring in a well trained male amateur cyclist performing the Otztal Radmarathon twice en bloque in a circuit of two identical laps (distance 460 km; cumulative altitude difference 11,000 m). The overall intensity was moderate (HR(mean) = 130 beats/min; HR(mean)/HR(max) = 0.71) corresponding to an average individual workload of 47% of VO(2)MAX. Almost the whole race was performed under aerobic conditions (99.6%); high intensity work was negligible (0.4%). The average speed and the HR response also declined in the course of the two laps, average speed by 17.2% (23.8 to 19.7 km/h), HR(mean) by 10.1% (138 to 124 beats/min), and HR(mean)/HR(max) by 10.7% (0.75 to 0.67). This scale of HR decrease corresponds to comparable data gained in the field of triathlon and represents a specific cardiac feature of ultraendurance exercise in general.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sports Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. guenther.neumayr@sb-bruneck.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Neumayr
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mitterbauer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gaenzer
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoertnagl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology