Do trained athletes also suffer from the negative effects of sedentary behaviour?: associations between sedentary behaviour and cardiovascular health in highly physically active adults

Abstract

Sedentary behaviour contributes to cardiovascular disease development and mortality, independent of physical activity. Nevertheless, this independent effect is not so evident in active people, suggesting only partial independence. However, it remains unclear whether active adults still suffer from the negative effects of sedentary behaviour. This study aims to investigate effects of total amounts and patterns of sedentary behaviour on cardiovascular health in highly physically active adults. Our results showed a significantly higher mean arterial pressure (90 ± 2 mmHg vs. 84 ± 2 mmHg) in active adults with higher (10.9 ± 0.3 h/day) compared to those with lower (8.7 ± 0.2 h/day) sedentary time awake. Blood pressure was positively associated with sedentary time and bouts after age, sex, body fat and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity adjustments. In the same model, global cardiac autonomic and parasympathetic modulation were negatively, whereas cardiac sympathetic modulation was positively associated with sedentary breaks. Associations between heart rate variability and sedentary bouts were opposite compared to sedentary breaks or no significant associations were observed. Cardiorespiratory fitness was not related to sedentary behaviour with all adjustments. These findings suggest that sedentary behaviour still have some negative effects on the cardiovascular health of highly physically active adults.