Relationship between cardiac autonomic activity following upper body exercise and total body water in men of different ages

Maintaining cardiac rhythm and contraction – during and flowing exercise training in particular- are challenges that exercise science scientists has always been facing. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the relationship between cardiac autonomic function after upper body exercise and total body water in men of different ages.

Twenty-four active men voluntarily participated after describing the goals and stages of the study, and then divided into two groups of 12 (middle-aged and elderly). Kubios heart rate variability software was used in order to measure heart rate variability. Heart rate variability was measured at rest, during and following five and10 minutes after upper body exercise. Body composition analyzer was used to determine the total body water of the participants. To examine the changes and the relationship between the variables of the research, statistical analysis of ANOVA with repeated measures and Pearson correlation were used, respectively.

The results showed that in both middle-aged and elderly groups, heart rate variability decreased during and immediately after exercise compared to rest (P < 0.05), but it increased in five and 10 minutes of recovery as compared to immediately after exercise (P < 0.05). Further, significant relationships were found between heart rate variability and total body water in both middle-aged and elderly groups (P < 0.05).

Overall, our findings showed that the heart rate variability in both middle-aged and elderly groups during and after upper body exercise is related to total body water. Therefore, it can be concluded that changes in cardiac autonomic system depend on the type of activity, the age of the participants, and the amount of total water body.