Changes

between rest, quality, speed, and aerobic training phases did not appear to elicit any significant change in cardiac autonomic nervous system activity Saracatinib manufacturer for either amputee swimmer. This similarity in training quantity may have blunted any shift in autonomic nervous system activity from one training phase to another. Further, the minimal variation in cardiac autonomic nervous system activity suggests the periodised training program may have been similar in load, volume, and consequent training response even though there were apparent changes in training emphasis. Similar results have been seen in able-bodied swimmers, with no apparent change in HRV following four weeks of training in the lead up to competition, suggesting the athletes did

not require further adaptive responses to training.18 Results from the current study suggest this lead in period of 17 weeks and the periodised program prepared each athlete effectively as they each made the final and swam a personal this website best in their main event. Despite each athlete’s exposure to various forms of progressive overload training during the lead up to the Paralympic games, each athlete appeared to respond well during periods of rest and recovery throughout each training phase. These results are in contrast to research showing a shift in cardiac autonomic activity following periods of intense training in elite junior rowers.19 Iellamo and colleagues19 found a distinct shift in cardiac autonomic function when rowers

were exposed to endurance training loads at 100% of their maximum efforts, in the lead up to the world championships. The results observed in the current study may differ from previous research19 as the swimmers in the current study were not exposed to endurance based intensive training loads and as such displayed a different cardiac autonomic response to training. While all HRV indices for athlete 2 and 3 were similar for all training phases, HF (nu) for athlete 1 was significantly higher during the quality training phase compared against all why other training phases. Increases in vagal-related HRV indices have been linked with improved performance in adolescent swimmers.13 Finally, no significant change in HRV was observed when each athlete shifted from their normal periodised training program to their specific taper in the lead up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. These findings contradict previous reports of increased HRV following a 2-week taper.13 Unlike the previous research, the taper phase in the current study followed a gradually reduced training load, to alleviate the stress of international travel. This steady decline in training load prior to the taper and subsequent competition may have diminished the rebound in autonomic nervous system activity often evident during periods of reduced training.