title: An Eighteen-Minute Submaximal Exercise Test to Assess Cardiac Fitness in Response to Aerobic Training.
abstract: Romagnoli, M, Alis, R, Sanchis-Gomar, F, Lippi, G, and Arduini, A. An 18-minute submaximal exercise test to assess cardiac fitness in response to aerobic training. J Strength Cond Res 32(10): 2846-2852, 2018-We aimed to evaluate the utility of a submaximal heart rate recovery (HRR) test to monitor changes in cardiac fitness after aerobic training. Twenty healthy subjects were assigned to a control (n = 10) or a training (n = 10) group. Subjects in the training group performed 8 weeks of bicycle training, followed by 8 weeks of detraining. Heart rate recovery was assessed after exercises at 65% and 80% HRmax. The HRR test was performed at weeks 0 (W0), 4 (W4), 8 (W8), and 16 (W16) in the training group and at W0 and W8 in the control group. Heart rate recovery indices changed in response to training and detraining. Absolute HRR at 60, 120, and 180 seconds after exercise increased at both exercise intensities at W8 of training (p < 0.01, W8 vs. W0) and returned to the pretraining level after detraining (p > 0.05, W16 vs. W0). Time constants of fast HRR recovery (<1 minute) changed with training (p < 0.05-0.01, W8 vs. W0) and detraining (p > 0.05, W16 vs. W0) but only at 65% HRmax. At the end of the 3-minute recovery period, the predicted heart rate (HR) value (A0) and the HR recovered (Amax) from the monoexponential analysis changed with training (p < 0.05-0.01, W8 vs. W0) and detraining (p > 0.05, W16 vs. W0). We conclude that this novel submaximal HRR test is highly sensitive for monitoring cardiac fitness during training and detraining in healthy people. Because this test is simple, inexpensive, and the data are reliable and easy to analyze, we hope that it may be of interest to the sports science community.
authors.affiliation: Research University Institute "Dr. Viña Giner," Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir," Valencia, Spain.|Department of Physical Education and Sports, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir," Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romagnoli
authors.affiliation: Research University Institute "Dr. Viña Giner," Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir," Valencia, Spain.|Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir," Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alis
authors.affiliation: Research University Institute "Dr. Viña Giner," Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir," Valencia, Spain.|Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, INCLIVA Health Research Institute, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanchis-Gomar
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and Hematology, Academic Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lippi
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arduini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000072599:Cardiorespiratory Fitness; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human