Purpose Highly active people, particularly endurance athletes, often have lower resting heart rates than others, below 60 beats per minute. This is because aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, allowing it to pump blood more efficiently. This results in a lower resting heart rate (RHR). As a person exercises more and becomes more aerobically fit, their RHR will likely decrease. (Yockey, 2023). Heart rate (HR) is often used as a key indicator of an athlete`s physical fitness level in the realm of endurance sports however, there is a scarceness of academic research that exists on examining how heart rate may affect the athlete`s shooting performance during the sport of competitive rifle. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in cardiorespiratory response of physically trained (NCAA) vs untrained (CLUB) competitive collegiate athletes participating in the sport of Competitive Rifle and determine a correlation between the structured vs unstructured physical fitness training of Competitive Rifle athletes on cardiorespiratory dynamics specifically heart rate. Methods Athletes were asked to wear a Polar Heart Rate Monitor (Polar, Kempele, Finland) while they were shooting in practice, competitions, and practice competitions. During active shooting, the primary investigator recorded the heart rates of the athletes every 5 minutes for comparison with the readings obtained from the Polar Heart Rate Monitor (Polar, Kempele, Finland). The respiratory rate of individuals was measured through visual observation of the athlete`s chest once every 5 minutes. Each athlete completed a series of questions that allowed for a self-report of physical training between each classification of athlete. Results TRAINED VS UNTRAINED COLLEGIATE RIFLE ATHLETES 2 The average RHR between groups was compared using paired sample t-tests, NCAA 75 bpm, CLUB 87 bpm (p = 0.06). Comparing the heart rate (HR) of the two teams it was observed that during rest, the NCAA averaged a HR of 75 beats per minute (bpm), while the CLUB averaged 87 bpm (p = 0.019). During active shooting, the NCAA team averaged 95 bpm and the CLUB team averaged 89 bpm (p = 0.06). For the final HR, the NCAA team averaged a HR of 86 bpm while the CLUB team averaged 82 bpm (p = 0.052). The lower RHR of the NCAA team may indicate higher cardiorespiratory fitness responses due to the structured nature of the training program that is followed by these athletes. Conclusion After reviewing the three heart rate measurements (RHR, Active Shooting, Final HR), two of the three comparable measures of HR were found to be insignificant, it cannot be said that HR on its own is a determining factor of athletic performance in the sport of rifle. Respiratory rate was not obtainable as the suits worn by the athletes during active shooting would not allow for the visual cue of the rise and fall of the athletes` chest. From the data collected, this study is unable to say with certainty that the HRs of the athletes is a determining factor of athletic performance in rifle here at The University of Akron.
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