Effect of stress on cardiorespiratory synchronization of Ironmen athletes

TL;DR

This study examines how extreme physical and cognitive stress from an Ironman race affects cardiorespiratory synchronization, revealing increased synchronization post-race likely due to recovery processes.

Contribution

It introduces the use of synchrogram and empirical mode decomposition analysis to assess phase synchronization changes due to physical stress in athletes.

Findings

Post-race synchronization increased compared to pre-race.

Recovery from physical stress influences cardiorespiratory coupling.

Cognitive stress effects are overshadowed by physical stress recovery.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the cardiorespiratory synchronization in athletes subjected to extreme physical stress combined with a cognitive stress tasks. ECG and respiration were measured in 14 athletes before and after the Ironmen competition. Stroop test was applied between the measurements before and after the Ironmen competition to induce cognitive stress. Synchrogram and empirical mode decomposition analysis were used for the first time to investigate the effects of physical stress, induced by the Ironmen competition, on the phase synchronization of the cardiac and respiratory systems of Ironmen athletes before and after the competition. A cognitive stress task (Stroop test) was performed both pre- and post-Ironman event in order to prevent the athletes from cognitively controlling their breathing rates. Our analysis showed that cardiorespiratory synchronization increased post-Ironman race compared to pre-Ironman. The results suggest that the amount of stress the athletes are recovering from post-competition is greater than the effects of the Stroop test. This indicates that the recovery phase after the competition is more important for restoring and maintaining homeostasis, which could be another reason for stronger synchronization.