Abstract

The phenomenon of heart rate overshoot immediately following exercise has been examined in 20 healthy young men aged 18-22 years. Bouts of supramaximal exercise were performed on a cycle ergometer in a sitting position. The incidence of overshoot was 95-100 following 10 second bouts of supramaximal work at various loadings, but dropped to 65-95 following one minute bouts of supramaximal work. In the 10 second bouts, the peak heart rate increased from 104.9 of the end-exercise value with a 2 kp loading to 106.6 with a 7 kp loading; the heavier loadings were also associated with a larger peak power output, a later peaking of heart rate, and a slower rate of recovery. With one minute of supramaximal work, the peak heart rates showed a much smaller overshoot, ranging from 100.6 at 1 kp to 102.3 at 4 kp. The findings seem consistent with our earlier view that much of the overshoot seen in cycle ergometry reflects an accumulation of anaerobic metabolites in the working muscles. Verf.-Referat