The effect of aerobic training and cardiac autonomic regulation in young adults.
OBJECTIVE
We tested the effect of aerobic exercise on autonomic regulation of the heart in healthy young adults.


METHODS
Healthy, sedentary young adults (n = 149; age = 30.4 +/- 7.53 years) were randomized to receive 12 weeks of either aerobic conditioning or strength training. Primary outcomes were heart rate and RR interval variability (RRV) measured before and after training and after 4 weeks of sedentary deconditioning. RRV, a noninvasive index of cardiac autonomic regulation, reflects variability in the intervals between consecutive R waves of the electrocardiogram.


RESULTS
Aerobic conditioning but not strength training led to a significant increase in aerobic capacity (3.11 mL/kg/min), a decrease in heart rate (-3.49 beats per minute), and an increase in high-frequency RRV (0.25 natural log msec2), each of which returned to pretraining levels after deconditioning. Significant 3-way interactions, however, revealed autonomic effects only in men.


CONCLUSIONS
In sedentary, healthy young adults, aerobic conditioning but not strength training enhances autonomic control of the heart, but post hoc analyses suggested that gender plays a significant role in this exercise-related cardioprotection.
Sloan
Richard P
RP
Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1150 St Nicholas Ave, Suite 121, New York, NY 10032, USA. rps7@columbia.edu
Shapiro
Peter A
PA
DeMeersman
Ronald E
RE
Bagiella
Emilia
E
Brondolo
Elizabeth N
EN
McKinley
Paula S
PS
Slavov
Iordan
I
Fang
Yixin
Y
Myers
Michael M
MM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult