Effects of uni and bilateral strength exercise on the transient heart rate

Abstract

Objective: To compare heart rate responses in the initial and final fast transients in uni and bilateral resistance exercise.

Methods: A group of 15 young women, asymptomatic and physically active performed in random order, ten Maximal Repetition of uni or bilateral knee extension exercise, with cadence controlled by a metronome. The heart rate was continuously recorded by a heart rate monitor, analyzed in five second intervals and calculated the averages for each measure. Thus, the data were analyzed in a series of 12 repeated measurements in two different situations, characterized by the execution of the exercise mode (unilateral or bilateral).

Results: There was no effect on the amount of muscle mass mobilized on these answers, as the interaction between the execution mode and time of measurement showed no significant difference (p = 1.000; power 0.082).

Conclusions: In both exercises, heart rate showed a fast acceleration in the initial transient of the exercise and a slower response in the final transient, however, there was no effect of the amount of stimulated autonomous afferences (larger amount of muscle mass involved bilateral vs unilateral exercise) on the magnitude of these responses.