Heart rate variation throughout the decathlon

Objective. - The goal of this study is to evaluate the cardiac activity during exercise and recovery throughout an intermittent event such as the decathlon, Methods. - Heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously (5 s interval) using cardiofrequencemeter in 6 athletes (age: 25.0 +/- 3.7 years, weight: 72 +/- 5.4 kg; height: 178 +/- 9.1 cm) participating to a regional decathlon championship, Results. - The races are the most demanding on a cardiovascular point of view (HR: 170 200 beats/min (bpm)), They lire followed by the jumps (HR: 140-170 bpm) and the throws (HR: 110-140 bpm). Between each event, HR progressively decreases as a sign of recovery period. During the throws and the jumps, HR drops between each attempt but this drop is blunted during the pole vault and the high jump events, revealing a more intense state of stress. The night period is important for the cardiovascular recovery with a stability of HR during steep. (c) 2006 Elsevier SAS. Tous droits reserves.