Using heart rate variability index to measure exercise intensity and training load in healthy adults

Summary

This research will be looking into the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and different forms of aerobic exercise (cycling on a stationary bike). Detrended fluctuation analysis alpha 1 (DFA-­α1) will be used to give us information about HRV in the context of exercise. DFA-­α1 values typically range from 2.0 to 0.0, lower values signify increasing random behavior of successive heartbeats which occurs in periods of increased stress or high exercise intensity. On separate days, volunteers who participate in this study will perform incremental exercise (i.e., maximal exercise tests), continuous heavy-intensity exercise, and time to task failure trials. Participants will exercise while wearing a face mask connected to a metabolic cart to facilitate the analysis of expired gas and a heart rate monitor to measure heart rate variability. From this research, we hope to add clarity on the use of DFA-­α1 as a potential tool to assess exercise intensity and fatigue, ideally providing end users a simpler and more readily available tool for exercise testing and prescription.