Effects of conditioning on the ballistocardiogram of college basketball players

¹ Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of vigorous athletic training on the ballistocardiogram. Ten varsity college basketball players were tested twice before the season began, twice during the season, and once from 4 to 6 weeks after the season was concluded. Ballistocardiograms were recorded before and after a standard exercise at each testing period. While the heart rates, particularly after the standard exercise, decreased with training, there was no statistically significant effect of training on the ballistocardiogram. This was thought to be due to limitations of the direct-body ballistocardiograph, particularly as influenced by changes in skin-fold fat of the subject. The immediate effects of exercise were an increase in amplitude and areas of the I plus J waves and the amplitude of the K wave. No immediate effects of exercise or of training were observed on the I-J or J-K intervals or on the respiratory effects on the ballistocardiogram.