110 J Exerc Sci Fit • Vol 4 • No 2 • 2006 Original Article HEART RATE RECOVERY POST -MAXIMAL EXHAUSTIVE EXERCISE AND ITS CORRELATION WITH MAXIMAL AEROBIC POWER IN TRAINED TEAM SPORT A THLETES Abdul Rashid Aziz 1 , Andrew E. Kilding 2 , Kong-Chuan Teh 3 1 Exercise Physiology Unit, Human Performance Laboratory, Sports Medicine & Research Centre, Singapore Sports Council, SINGAPORE 2 Division of Sport and Recreation, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND 3 Sports Medicine & Research Centre, Sports Science & Sports Medicine Division, High Performance Group, Singapore Sports Council, SINGAPORE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between aerobic fitness (i.e. maximal aerobic power or V · O 2max ) and heart rate recovery (HR rec ) from maximal exhaustive exercise in trained team sport athletes. Fifty-three male, national senior- and junior-level soccer and field hockey players performed a graded maximal treadmill run to exhaustion to assess measured V · O 2max . During the active recovery period (walking at 3.0 km hr –1 ) of the same test, the subjects’ HR at 1, 2 and 3 minutes was recorded (i.e. HR rec at the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd minute, respectively). The V · O 2max and HR rec protocols were standardized across all subjects. Subjects’ mean V · O 2max and HR max at the end of the incremental test was 56.8 ± 6.1 mL kg –1 min –1 and 191.1 ± 8.4 beats min –1 , respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed no significant correlations between subjects’ V · O 2max and HR rec (expressed as a percentage of HR max ) at either the 1 st (r = –0.13), 2 nd (r = 0.04) or 3 rd minute (r = –0.05) (all p > 0.05) post-maximal exercise. This study showed that there was no relationship between aero- bic fitness and the rate of HR rec post-maximal exercise in trained team sport athletes. During aerobic interval training sessions, it is not appropriate to assume that well-trained team sport athletes with high aerobic capacity will recover faster, in terms of HR, from high-intensity bouts of exercise than less aerobically fit athletes. Keywords: aerobic fitness, intermittent exercise, interval training, recovery Introduction Interval training involves alternating bouts of exercise (or work) and recovery. Aerobic interval training is defined as work bouts lasting several minutes inter- spersed with shorter rest periods of between 1 and 5 minutes (Seiler & Hetlelid 2005; Daniels & Scardina 1984). Aerobic interval training is an important training tool for developing endurance performance because athletes can perform more high intensity work, i.e. a greater training stimuli, than what can be tolerated with continuous, constant-intensity exercise (Seiler & Hetlelid 2005; Daniels & Scardina 1984). Aerobic interval train- ing consists of five variables: work interval intensity and duration, recovery interval intensity and duration, and Corresponding Author Abdul Rashid Aziz, Exercise Physiology Unit, Human Performance Laboratory, Sports Medicine & Research Centre, Singapore Sports Council, 15 Stadium Road, National Stadium, SINGAPORE 397718. Tel: (65) 6340-9693 Fax: (65) 6345-2795 E-mail: abdul_rashid_aziz@ssc.gov.sg