Effects of pre-exercise acupuncture stimulation on heart rate response during short-duration exercise

• Published in: BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation medicine & rehabilitation, 2021-10, Vol.13 (1), p.1-129, Article 129
• Main Authors: Nakahara, Hidehiro, Ueda, Shin-ya, Kawai, Eriko, Higashiura, Rui, Miyamoto, Tadayoshi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Acupuncture effects; Anaerobic threshold; Analysis; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Bradycardia; Cardiac arrhythmia; Data collection; Electroacupuncture; Electrocardiography; Exercise; Experiments; Heart beat; Heart rate; High-intensity exercise; Laboratories; Low-intensity exercise; Nervous system; Physiological aspects; Recreation
• ISSN: 2052-1847; 2052-1847
• DOI: 10.1186/s13102-021-00358-1

Background The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of bradycardia induced by pre-exercise acupuncture on heart rate responses during short-duration exercise. Methods A total of 29 healthy subjects underwent two protocols: protocol 1 assessed the effects of manual acupuncture on heart rate response during rest, and protocol 2 tested the hypothesis that the bradycardic effects induced by pre-exercise acupuncture continue during low- and high-intensity exercise. Their average age, height, weight, and body mass index were 21.2 [+ or -] 2.0 years, 167.2 [+ or -] 8.8 cm, 63.8 [+ or -] 12.8 kg, and 22.7 [+ or -] 3.5 kg/m.sup.2, respectively. In acupuncture stimulations for protocols 1 and 2, an acupuncture needle was inserted into the lower leg and manual acupuncture stimulation was performed at 1 Hz. Results In protocol 1 (resting condition), acupuncture stimulation induced a bradycardic response, which continued for 4 min after the cessation of acupuncture stimulation (p < 0.05). In protocol 2, the bradycardic response induced by pre-exercise acupuncture stimulation remained during low-intensity exercise and in the beginning of high-intensity exercise performed immediately after the cessation of acupuncture stimulation (p < 0.05). However, the effects disappeared when post-acupuncture exercise was performed when the heart rate was approximately 140 beats/min during high-intensity exercise. The rating of perceived exertion after exercise differed significantly between the acupuncture stimulation task (7.9 [+ or -] 1.6) and no-stimulation task (8.5 [+ or -] 2.0) (p = 0.03) only in the low intensity group. Conclusion This study may provide new insights into the effect of acupuncture stimulation on psycho-physiological conditions during exercise. Keywords: Acupuncture effects, Bradycardia, Low-intensity exercise, High-intensity exercise