Heart rate recovery following strength exercise

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of intensity, type of exercise, and gender on kinetics of heart rate (HR) recovery. Six men and six women (22.7 ± 2.1 years, 171.9 ± 10.9 cm, 66.3 ± 11.8 kg) performed two tests of 1RM in the leg press and bench press. After at least a 24-h period, the subjects performed a set until exhaustion at 80% of 1RM in bench press or leg press (in random order), followed by a 5-min recovery and then another set of the same exercise at 60% of 1RM. After five minutes, the subjects performed the same sequence in the opposite exercise. The values of HR (bpm) were mathematically adjusted, and the following variables were obtained: speed (τ) and amplitude (Amp) of decay, and HR at stabilization (HRbase). The HRbase was higher in leg press than in bench press (92 ± 18 vs 81 ± 18 bpm), with a tendency of the changes in HRbase being dependent on gender (bench press female= 85 ± 22 and male= 76 ± 12 bpm vs leg press female= 87 ± 21 and male= 97 ± 13 bpm, p=0.09). The Amp was similar for all intensities, exercises, and gender. The τ changed significantly with the type of exercise and gender (bench press female= 31.7 ± 14.6 and male= 62.3 ± 31.3 vs leg press female= 61.1 ± 17.6 and male= 53.9 ± 16.0 s, p<0.05). The intensity showed no significant effect on any of the studied variables. These results suggest that HR recovery is influenced by the type of exercise and the magnitude of these changes is dependent on the gender.