Age-predicted vs. measured maximal heart rate in young team sport athletes

BACKGROUND: Although maximal heart rate (HR)(max) is used widely to assess exercise intensity in sport training and particularly in various team sports, there are limited data with regards to the use of age-based prediction equations of HR(max) in sport populations. The aim of this study was to compare the measured-HR(max) with three prediction equations (Fox-HR(max) = 220-age and Tanaka-HR(max) = 208-0.7×age and Nikolaidis-HR(max) = 223-1.44×age) in young team sport athletes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Athletes of soccer, futsal, basketball and water polo, classified into three age groups (u-12, 9−12 years, n = 50; u-15, 12−15 years, n = 40; u-18, 15−18 years, n = 57), all members of competitive clubs, voluntarily performed a graded exercise field test (20 m shuttle run endurance test) to assess HR(max). RESULTS: Fox-HR(max) and Nikolaidis-HR(max) overestimated measured-HR(max), while Tanaka-HR(max) underestimated it (P < 0.001). However, this trend was not consistent when examining each group separately; measured-HR(max) was similar with Tanaka-HR(max) in u-12 and u-15, while it was similar with Nikolaidis-HR(max) in u-18. CONCLUSION: The results of this study failed to validate two widely used and one recently developed prediction equations in a large sample of young athletes, indicating the need for specific equation in different age groups. Therefore, coaches and fitness trainers should prefer Tanaka-HR(max) when desiring to avoid overtraining, while Fox-HR(max) and Nikolaidis-HR(max) should be their choice in order to ensure adequate exercise intensity.