Vagal modulation after training at different levels of the Pilates method.

INTRODUCTION

cardiovascular and autonomic adjustments occur during and after physical exercise, and exercise intensity can directly influence the magnitude of these adjustments. Therefore, it is important to analyze post-exercise recovery to provide better guidance for prescription strategies.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze autonomic behavior during post-exercise recovery after the Pilates method at different intensity levels.

METHODS

in total, 24 healthy young men were included in this study. The participants underwent 12 weeks of Pilates training. The exercises were progressive between beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels. Post-exercise autonomic behavior was analyzed using vagal indices of heart rate variability. Descriptive statistics were adopted with Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance and the Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS

for intermediate and advanced levels, a decrease in vagal modulation was observed (p < 0.05) in the first 5 min after exercise compared to rest, represented by the rMSSD and SD1 indices.

CONCLUSION

intermediate and advanced exercise reduced parasympathetic modulation in the initial minutes of post-exercise recovery. The beginner level did not promote changes in autonomic behavior immediately after the exercise session.