Evaluation of basal heart rate and cardio respiratory endurance among wrestlers-a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: Cardiorespiratory endurance is the most important component of health fitness concerned with the aerobic efficiency of the body. The VO2 max (maximum oxygen uptake) is the criterion measure of cardiorespiratory fitness that determines amount of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight per minute of exercise. Aim and Objectives: The aim and objective of the study is (1). To assess the heart rate and VO2 max among Indian wrestlers and age and sex-matched healthy controls and (2). To find the correlation between resting heart rate and VO2 max (if any). Materials and Methods: About 35 wrestlers aged between 18 and 25 years practicing in district stadium Belgaum and 35 age and sex-matched students of KLE University, Belgaum were enrolled as controls. Resting heart rate was measured, and cardiorespiratory endurance test was done on treadmill to calculate the VO2 max using Bruce protocol. Results: The data were analyzed using Student unpaired “t-test” (P < 0.05 was considered as significant). Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate strength of association between heart rate and VO2 max. The mean resting heart rate of players was significantly less than that of the controls (P < 0.001). Mean VO2 max was significantly higher in wrestlers than in the controls (P < 0.001). Negative correlation was found between the resting heart rate and VO2 max among the wrestler’s and controls. Conclusion: The higher VO2 max in the wrestlers can be attributed to the duration of training which causes greater increase in cardiac output and arteriovenous O2 difference. Resting heart rate of the wrestlers was found to be lower than that of the sedentary people. High VO2 max and low resting heart rate are both associated with cardiovascular fitness and common among endurance players. These could be beneficial tools for trained wrestlers looking to improve their performance.