Parameters of heart rate variability associated with high sports performance in athletes

Introduction. The problem of developing clear criteria for assessing athletes’ functional fitness, which would reflect their readiness for competitions, remains under-researched in the theory of sports. Football places high demands on athletes’ functional fitness, including the vegetative component. However, attempts to improve results in football often focus on techniques and tactics to the detriment of the functional component. It should also be noted that the intensity of exercises varies depending on the playing position during matches, and, therefore, an accurate diagnostic criterion is required to assess the players’ of different positions functional readiness for competitions. The article attempts to identify the parameters of heart rate variability which could be used as markers of athletes’ playing game sports high functional performance. The aim of this research is to identify the parameters of heart rate variability as a diagnostic criterion for assessing football players’ functional readiness for competitions. Materials and Methods. In order to assess the heart rate variability, the software for the “Polyspectrum” electrocardiograph was used with an additional function of obtaining data on heart rate variability. Results. The research findings suggest that football players with high athletic performance demonstrate higher vagal and lower sympathetic modulation of the heart rhythm, which indicates their higher fitness, adaptability to loads and functional readiness for competitions. On the contrary, the athletes of the second group demonstrated signs of strain of adaptation systems and over-training. Conclusions. Monitoring heart rate variability in athletes (in particular, heart rhythm wave structure indicators, expressed as the area of the triangle formed by the spectral density of all three waves) can be used as an effective tool in the dynamic control of training, in identifying athletes’ fitness, as well as for predicting sports results.