Influence of Body Composition on Post-Exercise Parasympathetic Reactivation of Firefighter Recruits

David J. Cornell, Sabrina E. Noel, Xiyuan Zhang and Kyle T. Ebersole
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David J. Cornell: Health Assessment Laboratory, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
Sabrina E. Noel: Health Assessment Laboratory, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
Xiyuan Zhang: Center for Population Health, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
Kyle T. Ebersole: Human Performance and Sport Physiology Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Firefighters have a sustained risk for experiencing a sudden cardiac event after completing a fire call. Heart rate recovery (HRR) can be utilized to characterize autonomic nervous system (ANS) recovery and has been linked to cardiac events. Research suggests that body composition influences post-exercise HRR responses in non-firefighter populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and percent body fat (BF) on the HRR response of firefighter recruits. BMI (kg·m −2 ), WC (cm), and BF (%) data from 57 firefighter recruits were collected. HRR (b·min −1 ) data were collected at completion (HR 0 ), as well as 15 (HR 15 ), 30 (HR 30 ), 45 (HR 45 ), 60 (HR 60 ), 120 (HR 120 ), and 180 (HR 180 ) seconds following a submaximal step test, and commonly utilized clinical HRR indices were calculated (ΔHRR 30 , ΔHRR 60 , ΔHRR 120 , and ΔHRR 180 ). After controlling for sex, linear mixed regression models did not identify significant interactions between body composition ( p s > 0.05) and HRR response across time. However, significant ( p s < 0.05) indirect semi-partial correlations were identified between BF and ΔHRR 30 ( r sp = −0.31) and ΔHRR 60 ( r sp = −0.27), respectively. Reducing overall BF (vs. BMI or WC) should be prioritized to improve the post-exercise ANS recovery of firefighter recruits.

Keywords: autonomic nervous system; heart rate recovery; obesity; body mass index; waist circumference; percent body fat; tactical athletes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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