Objective: 

Aim of the current study was to determine time-domain heart rate variabilities in pofessional handball players competing in Turkish premier league and to compare these data with those of sedentary controls.

Methods: 

Electrocardiography (ECG) of handball players (n=12) and sedentary subjects (n=12) were recorded for 5 min before and after an exercise programme (5 min running with a stable speed). These recordings were used to find QT intervals and time-domain heart rate variability parameters including AVNN, SDNN, RMSSD, PNN50 and PNN20.

Results: 

Heart rate variability was higher for handball players than sedentary subjects and for exercising period than resting period (P<0.05). There was significant negative correlation between heart rate and RMSSD (r=-0.599; P<0.001). Although corrected QT interval was longer for exercising period than resting period and for handball players than sedentary subjects (P<0.001), these values were not considered as short- or long-QT intervals.

Conclusions: 

(1) As increase in heart rate variability is positively assocciated with health parameters, sedentary people are recommended to exercise regularly, and (2) heart rate variability appears to be a useful index for planning exercise protocols.