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Purpose: Optimal autonomic regulation and stress resilience might be considered critical elements of athletic performance. We hypothesize that a novel unitary autonomic index for sports (ANSIs), together with a somatic stress related symptom score (4SQ) might help characterize athletes who were eventually selected for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Italian team (Rio +).Methods: In this retrospective study we examined 778 athletes (age 24.4 ± 6.7 yrs) who underwent a planned yearly pre-participation screening. All athletes underwent clinical, autonomic and exercise ECG evaluation. The combination of vagal and sympathetic indices from RR variability into ANSIs was performed by radar plot and percent ranking of index variables. We assessed (Rio +) versus (Rio -) athletes also after subdivision into three sport intensity groups (low, mid and high intensity).Results: Overall there were no significant differences between (Rio +) and (Rio -) athletes when considering individual spectral derived variables. Conversely, the unitary Index ANSIs was significantly higher in (Rio +) compared to (Rio -) athletes (respectively 54.5 ± 29.5 and 47.9 ± 28.4 p = 0.014). This difference was particularly evident (p = 0.017) in the group of athletes characterized by both high static and dynamic components. 4SQ was smaller in the (Rio +) group, particularly in the groups of athletes characterized by both low-medium static and dynamic components.Conclusions: ANSIs, a proxy of integrated cardiac autonomic regulation and simple assessment of resilience to stress, may differentiate Italian athletes who were eventually selected for participation in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games from those who were not, suggesting the possibility of a "winning functional phenotype". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The dynamics of vagal withdrawal and reactivation during pulses of exercise are described by indices computed from heart period (RR) variations, which may be sensitive to duration and load. We sought to assess the consistency over time of these indices, which is not well established. Methods: We recorded continuous electrocardiogram during series of five successive bouts (2 min) of submaximal exercise (at 40 and 70 % of VO, different days). Autonomic responsiveness was inferred from quantification of onset and offset of RR dynamics of each individual bout. Consistency of results was assessed with intraclass correlation (ICC). Results: During exercise bouts, indices from tachycardic and bradycardic transients reach lower levels in response to higher exercise loads and progression of exercise. There is a significant effect of load and time (i.e., bout repetition) for all examined variables, with a clear interaction. However, no interaction is observed with the 60 s change in heart rate. ICC analysis demonstrates that various indices are characterized by large differences in stability, which is generally greater within the same day (e.g., tachyspeed ICC at 40 % = 0.751, at 70 % = 0.704, both days = 0.633; bradyspeed, respectively, = 0.545, 0.666, 0.516). Conclusions: Intensity and duration of exercise modulate vagal withdrawal and reactivation. Analysis of RR variations, during successive brief exercise bouts at lower and higher intensity, ensures a consistency similar to that reported for autonomic cardiac regulation at rest and might guide the choice among multiple indices that are obtained from the tachogram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]