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Biofeedback heart rate training during exercise

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Abstract

Eighteen healthy human subjects participated in weekly sessions of five 10-minute trials of walking on a treadmill at 2.5 mph and 6% grade. Eight experimental subjects received beat-to-beat heart rate biofeedback during the exercise and were instructed to try to lower their heart rates; ten control subjects did not receive feedback. By the end of 5 weeks (25 trials), the experimental group showed a significantly lower mean heart rate (96.8 vs. 108.6 bpm), systolic blood pressure (114.0 vs. 131.3 mmHg), and rate-pressure product (11.0×103 vs. 14.3×103 bpm-mmHg) during exercise than the control group. These differences were maintained after crossover of the feedback provision for five more weeks.

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Goldstein, D.S., Ross, R.S. & Brady, J.V. Biofeedback heart rate training during exercise. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation 2, 107–125 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00998662

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