Heart rate variability and sports specific aerobic fitness of the cricketers: A pilot study

Abstract

Heart rate variability is widely used to indicate cardiovascular functional reserve, while aerobic fitness is crucial for performance in the T20 format. This study examined the relationship between HRV and sports-specific aerobic fitness in district-level male cricketers. Resting HRV values showed balanced autonomic function, with moderate SDNN, elevated RMSSD and pNN50, and a lower resting heart rate. The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test and Polar fitness test showed a strong positive association, reflected in a correlation of 0.85 between their V̇O₂max values. In contrast, HRV parameters demonstrated weak negative correlations with V̇O₂max, as seen in YYIR1 with SDNN (−0.18), RMSSD (−0.26), and pNN50 (−0.29). These weak relationships may be influenced by the small sample size. Although HRV varies across individuals, the homogeneity of the group supports interpretation of mean values. Overall, the findings suggest that HRV alone may not reliably reflect sports-specific aerobic fitness, highlighting the need for larger studies.