The main aim of the study was to investigate if different level of aerobic fitness influence heart rate (HR) responses during 10-s intervals of first minute of recovery after maximal exercise in athletes. Methods Thirty female athletes requesting a pre-competition medical examination with exercise-stress testing at the exercise physiology lab, who were participating in consistent training for the past 2 years and who were between 20 and 22 years of age, were recruited for the study. After maximal exercise on treadmill, the end of exercise was flagged, and 1 min of post-exercise HR recorded with the subject at supine position. Results At the both 10 and 20 s of recovery period, female athletes with high aerobic capacity (> 50 ml/kg/min) had significantly lower HR as compared to their sub-elite counterparts (< 40 ml/kg/min) (p < 0.05). The results obtained in this study suggest that the female athletes with superior aerobic fitness had lower 10 and 20 s recovery HR after maximal exercise than their counterparts with lower aerobic capacity. Conclusion These results seem to indicate that aerobic fitness along with autonomic modulation might have played a role in the ultra short-term cardiovascular responses to all-out exercise.
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