A comparison of cardiac structure and function between female powerlifters, fitness-oriented athletes, and sedentary controls.

Aim: To compare echocardiographic parameters between female powerlifters, fitness-oriented athletes, and sedentary controls.

Methods: A between-subject, cross-sectional experimental design was adopted. Echocardiographic parameters were measured in female powerlifters (n = 10; progressive overload 60%-95% of 1 repetition maximum [RM]), fitness-oriented athletes (n = 10; 50%-70% of 1-RM), and sedentary control subjects (n = 10). Comparisons were made with Kruskal-Wallis tests, one-way analyses of variance, and eta-squared (η ) interpreted as small = 0.01-0.06, moderate = 0.061-0.14, and large >0.14.

Results: Large differences (P > .05) were observed between resistance-trained groups and sedentary controls, whereby relative wall thickness (RWT) and left ventricular (LV) index were greater in powerlifters (RWT: 0.40 ± 0.05, η  = 0.15; LV index: 95.6 ± 13.6 g/m , η  = 0.15) and fitness-oriented athletes (RWT: 0.40 ± 0.05, η  = 0.15; LV index: 97.9 ± 14.2 g/m , η  = 0.20) compared to sedentary controls (RWT: 0.36 ± 0.05; LV index: 85.9 ± 10.3 g/m ). Large differences were observed in intra-ventricular septal wall thickness (ISWT) and late diastolic velocity (a') between groups, whereby powerlifters exhibited lower a' (8.6 ± 1.2 cm/s) compared to fitness-oriented athletes (9.9 ± 0.9 cm/s, η  = 0.26, P = .04) and sedentary controls (9.6 ± 0.9 cm/s, η  = 0.19, P > .05), while fitness-oriented athletes exhibited greater ISWT (10.1 ± 0.7 mm) compared to sedentary controls (9.4 ± 1.0 mm, η  = 0.16, P > .05).

Conclusions: Differences in cardiac structure between powerlifters, fitness-oriented athletes, and sedentary controls suggest specific cardiac remodeling may occur in response to resistance training, without impairment of cardiac function.