Cardiac autonomic modulation in judo athletes: evaluation by linear and non-linear method

Purpose

The practice of judo is associated with some heart conditions. Some authors suggest cardiac morphometric changes as an increase in diastolic dimension of the left ventricle, interventricular septum and posterior wall thickness of the left ventricle with an improvement in aerobic and anaerobic performance. However, few studies have explored the autonomic modulation by heart rate variability in judo athletes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of judo training 6 months on autonomic modulation analysis, time and frequency domains symbolic.

Methods

The study included 16 young male, 18–25 years of age were recruited from university students through campus ads and divided into two groups: sedentary young males (S; n = 9) and judo (n = 7).

Results

There are no significant differences in age, height, weight, body mass index and heart rate among sedentary groups and judo. During the reporting period, sedentary individuals displayed parameters of the variability of the lower heart rate in the time domain, as SDNN, RMSSD, PNN50 and VarRR, compared with the subjects of judo. As the symbolic analysis it observed greater parasympathetic modulation (2UV) in judo group, compared with the sedentary group. However, no changes were observed in the sympathetic modulation (0V) between the groups.

Conclusions

We conclude that the exclusive practice of judo for 6 months produces autonomic changes, even without contributing to changes in body composition.