PHENOMENON OF ATHLETE’S HEART, POSITIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION TO EXERCISE: WHEN AND HOW?

Abstract

Physical activity places a substantial demand on the whole body, especially on the cardiovascular system. The main goal of circulatory system is to provide enough energy, through transport of nutritional substrate and oxygen, to metabolically hyperactive tissues (skeletal muscles). Cardiac adaptation to exercise encompasses first morphological and therefore functional and electrophysiological changes that are referred to as a phenomenon of the athletic heart. PURPOSE: The aim of this research is to reveal contemporary knowledge of physiological mechanisms which contribute to develop the athlete's heart, criteria for diagnosing the athletic heart, defining of volume (duration, frequency and intensity) and modality of physical activities which cause this cardiovascular adaptation.. METHOD: Specific key words: "athlete's heart", "training" "duration", "intensity", "mechanism", were used to search relevant electronic databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. RESULTS: Individual studies showed that cardiac adaptations may differ according to the type of sports. Numerous publications have confirmed an eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy in endurance athletes and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy in resistance trained athletes. The volume of exercise, intensity and duration of exercise, which are needed to cause the development of athletic heart are still questionable. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that whatever the mechanism, it is evident that hypertrophy is a genuine response to training which is followed by withdrawal after a period of de-training. Sports scientists and sport's experts who designed the training regimes should be well informed about consequences of physical efforts on cardiac health. General recommendations for physical activity for better cardiac health is up to seven hours vigorous aerobic activity per week.