EFFECTS OF FOAM ROLLING ON HRV IN ELITE SWIMMERS (HRV-SWIMMING)

June 10, 2026 updated by: Ramiz ARABACI, Uludag University

HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN ELITE SWIMMERS AFTER INTENSIVE INTERVAL SPRINT LOADING: EFFECT OF FOAM ROLLING ON RECOVERY

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of foam rolling (FR) on recovery by examining selected time-domain and frequency-domain heart rate variability (HRV) parameters in elite swimmers following intensive interval sprint training. It was hypothesized that FR would enhance HRV recovery compared to active recovery performed through swimming.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

15

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
      • Bursa, Turkey (Türkiye), 16059
        • Bursa uludag University, Faculty of Sport Sciences

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • membership in the National Olympic Preparation Centre (TOHM), (2) ≥5 years of competitive swimming experience, and (3) participation in ≥3 international competitions within the past year

Exclusion Criteria:

  • cardiovascular, respiratory, or musculoskeletal conditions within the past six months,
  • use of medications or stimulants affecting performance within the past three months
  • unsuitability for physical activity according to EGZ-A+ assessment

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Swimm + Foam rolling (FR)
  1. Warm-up: 5 min of foam rolling (FR), 5 min of stretching, and 1500 m of low-tempo freestyle swimming (~20 min).
  2. Pre-test: Baseline HR and HRV measurements were recorded.
  3. A 50 m swim was performed at 90-100% intensity.
  4. HR and HRV were recorded (T1).
  5. Participants completed 3 × 50 m swims at 90-100% intensity with passive recovery (~15 s) between repetitions.
  6. HR and HRV were recorded (T2).
  7. Recovery Protocol (FR): 750 m of low-intensity freestyle swimming (~10 min) followed by 10 min of FR.
  8. Post-test: HR and HRV were recorded.
Other: Swimming+FoamRollingRecovery
warm-up: 5 min FR, 5 min stretching, 1500 m low-tempo freestyle swim (~20 min). PreT: HR and HRV baseline measurements. 1T: 50 m swim at 90-100% intensity; HRV, recorded. 2T: 3 × 50 m swim at 90-100% intensity with passive rest (~15 s) between repetitions; HR recorded. Recovery Protocols: FR: 750 m Low Initensity Freestyle Swimming (~10 min) + 10 min FR. PostT: HRV was recorded.
Active Comparator: Swimm (NFR)
  1. Warm-up: 5 min of foam rolling (FR), 5 min of stretching, and 1500 m of low-tempo freestyle swimming (~20 min).
  2. Pre-test: Baseline HR and HRV measurements were recorded.
  3. A 50 m swim was performed at 90-100% intensity.
  4. HR and HRV were recorded (T1).
  5. Participants completed 3 × 50 m swims at 90-100% intensity with passive recovery (~15 s) between repetitions.
  6. HR and HRV were recorded (T2).
  7. Recovery Protocol (FR): 1500 m of low-intensity freestyle swimming (~20 min).
  8. Post-test: HR and HRV were recorded.
Other: SwimmingRecovery
warm-up: 5 min FR, 5 min stretching, 1500 m low-tempo freestyle swim (~20 min). PreT: HRV baseline measurements. 1T: 50 m swim at 90-100% intensity; HRV recorded. 2T: 3 × 50 m swim at 90-100% intensity with passive rest (~15 s) between repetitions; HRV recorded. Recovery Protocols: NFR: 1500 m Low Intensity Freestyle Swimming (~20 min). PostT: HRV recorded.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 15 days
Time-Domain Parameters of HRV: RR, SDNN, RMSSD, StressIndex Frequency-Domain Parameters of HRV: VLF, LF, HF mesured 4 time during intervantion Pretest, T1, T2 an Postest
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 15 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Uludag University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 11, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 10, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023-26/30

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Participants are Elite Swimmers who participated in competitions.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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