Effects of exergames on the variability of the heart rate of university students

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of an EXG on the variability of the heart rate (HRV) in young people. The participants were divided into two groups: Exergame Group (GE) and Control Group (GC). Initially, anthropometric assessments were performed and to analyze the physical activity's level the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short version was used. The HRV was recorded through the Polar V800® heart rate monitors in both groups in two moments, before and after 11 weeks and the data was transferred to the Kubios® software for analysis. The EXG training program lasted 11 weeks, with 3 weekly sessions of 30 minutes, using a dance game from Xbox 360 Kinect®. There was astatistically significant (p <0.05) increase in the GE in the following HRV indices between the pre and post measures. Root mean square of successive differences between the normal adjacent RR intervals (rMSSD): 21.77 + 7.6 ms and 27.84 + 4.04 ms; percentage of adjacent intervals with more than 50ms (pNN50%): 3.57 + 3.34 and 7.52 + 3.98, and high frequency band (HF): 185.58 + 72.46 and 322.08 + 13.76ms. There was in CG no statistically significant difference in any of the variables studied. The EXG 11 weeks training was able to determine the improvement in HRV behavior with increased parasympathetic activity.