Dose-response relationship between very vigorous physical activity and cardiovascular health assessed by heart rate variability in adults: Cross-sectional results from the EPIMOV study

The minimum amount of physical activity needed to obtain health benefits has been widely determined. Unlikely, the impact of extreme amounts of very vigorous physical activity (VVPA, ≥ 8 metabolic equivalents) to the heart remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate the dose-response relationship between VVPA and heart rate variability (HRV) in adults. We selected 1040 asymptomatic individuals (60% women, 42 ± 15 years, 28 ± 6 kg/m2) from the Epidemiology and Human Movement Study (EPIMOV). Participants remained in the supine position for 10 min, and we selected an intermediate 5-min window for HRV analysis. The standard deviation of the RR intervals, root mean square of RR intervals, successive RR intervals that differ > 50 ms, powers of the low-and high-frequency bands and Poincaré plot standard deviations were quantified. Participants used a triaxial accelerometer (Actigraph GT3x+) above the dominant hip for 4–7 consecutive days for quantifying their physical activity. We also evaluated the maximum oxygen uptake ([Image: see text] ) during an exercise test. We stratified participants into five groups according to the VVPA in min/week (group 1, ≤ 1.50; 2, 1.51–3.16; 3, 3.17–3.54; 4, 3.55–20.75; and 5, > 20.75). The linear trends of the HRV through the quintiles of VVPA were investigated. We used logarithmic transformations to compare the five groups adjusted for age, sex, cardiovascular risk, and [Image: see text] . We found a better HRV with increased VVPA for all HRV indices studied (p trend < 0.05). However, group 5 did not differ from group 4 (p > 0.05) for none of the indices. We conclude that there is an incremental benefit of VVPA on HRV of asymptomatic adults. Since we found neither additional benefits nor the harmful impact of amounts of VVPA as high as 22 min/week on HRV, our results should not discourage asymptomatic adults to perform VVPA.