Active recovery does not accelerate cardiac autonomic recovery in young men with obesity, regardless of metabolic recovery

Abstract

Active recovery may improve metabolic recovery, but its effects on cardiac autonomic recovery in young men with obesity are still unknown. Purpose: To assess whether active recovery accelerates cardiac autonomic recovery in young men with obesity. Methods: Sixteen young men with obesity (26.21 ± 3.05 years; BMI: 34.12 ± 2.46 kg∙m-2; resting blood pressure: 124 ± 8/ 77 ± 5 mmHg) completed two experimental sessions (passive and active recovery) involving a maximal incremental test on a cycle ergometer followed 90 min recovery. (I) Passive recovery: 10 min of sitting on a cycle ergometer (short-term recovery) + 80 min of sitting on a chair (long-term recovery); (II) active recovery: 10 min of pedaling on a cycle ergometer + 80 min of sitting on a chair. Results: Systolic blood pressure was higher during active recovery than in passive recovery (p ≤ 0.01, main effect of recovery) in long-term recovery. During short-term recovery, active recovery resulted in a higher HR (p ≤ 0.01, recovery vs. time), lower lnRMSSD (p = 0.04, main effect for recovery), and lower lnSDNN (p = 0.01, recovery vs. time), without affecting long-term cardiac autonomic recovery (p > 0.05). Regardless of recovery, HR and lnRMSSD returned to resting values at 60 min and LnSDNN at 45 min (p ≤ 0.01). Blood lactate concentration ([Lac]) was lower in active recovery at three, 10, and 20 min (p ≤ 0.03) than in passive recovery. Furthermore, the [Lac] returned to rest values at 30 min in active recovery and at 40 min in passive recovery. Conclusion: In young men with obesity, active recovery, regardless of metabolic recovery, did not accelerate the cardiac autonomic recovery.