Maximum and Resting Heart Rate in Treadmill and Deep-Water Running in Male International Volleyball Players

The aim of the study was to compare the physiological responses to deep water running (DWR) compared with treadmill running (TMR) by male international volleyball players. We compared the maximum, recovery, and resting heart rates, maximum blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion between DWR and standard laboratory TMR tests. The maximum heart rate (HRmax) was 14.9 bpm lower in water than on land (p = .001, 95% confidence interval, 7.74–22.06). The recovery HR at three minutes was 16.4 bpm lower in water (p = .012, CI 95%, 4.57–28.23). The differences in the maximum HR and the three-minute recovery HR likely reflected a cardiovascular response mediated by immersion in water. The maximum blood lactate and the ratings of perceived exertion suggested that both tests were undertaken at the same effort levels. Before prescribing exercise intensity a water specific test should be performed. Maximum effort tests are mainly aimed at measuring levels of maximal and submaximal physiological responses to exercise. These measurements include such variables as oxygen consumption, heart rate, blood lactate, and rating of perceived exertion. The physiological parameters should be measured objectively to obtain control measurements before extrapolating these to physical training or therapy parameters (e.g., speed, space, time, power, rhythm, cadence; Gonzalez-Iturri, 1999). Therapeutic exercise in hydrotherapy pools is currently recommended as part of the consensus guidelines for physiotherapists (Larsen, Pryce, & Harrison, 2002) as well as being used by experts in recovery from sporting injuries or in the maintenance of physical fitness during the presence of a lesion, especially among high-performance athletes (Butts, Tucker, & Christine,1991; Cuesta-Vargas & Guillen-Romero, 2005; Eyestone, Fellingham, George, & Fisher, 1993; Takeshima, Nakata, Kobayashi, Tanaka, & Pollock, 1997). Important differences exist in the cardiovascular response to exercise in water compared with exercising on land. These include a decrease in maximum heart