Sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit transitions stimulate cardiac autonomic regulation and lead to age-dependent short-term patterns in heart rate

Background Sedentary behaviors pose health risks, which can be mitigated by regular exercise. The impact of everyday movements on cardiac autonomic regulation is not well-established. The present study investigated whether standing up and sitting down from a chair leads to a reproducible transition pattern in heart rate. Furthermore, age-related changes in this pattern were assessed. Methods Forty healthy participants (18–65 years, 22 female) performed eight repetitions of standing up from a chair and sitting down. Electrocardiogram and accelerometer data were recorded throughout the procedure. The average RR interval series was used to quantify the transition pattern evoked by the movement. Results Both movements resulted in a transition pattern in the RR interval and corresponding heart rate (HR) series within 30 s. After the initiation of movement, a local maximum HR appeared at a median of 8.1 s (standing up, HR stand max = 78.4 bpm vs. HR sit = 62.4 bpm) and 2.1 s (sitting down, HR sit max = 78.0 bpm vs. HR stand = 70.2 bpm), followed by a local minimum HR at a median of 18.0 s (standing up, HR stand min = 68.0 bpm; p < 0.001 vs. HR stand max and HR sit ) and 14.1 s (sitting down, HR sit-min = 60.7 bpm; p < 0.001 vs. HR sit max and HR stand ). Subsequently, the HR increased until a steady state was reached. The time to reach the local minimum increased with age for both movements. Furthermore, the standing up HR min /HR max decreased with increasing age. Conclusion Standing up from a chair and sitting down each briefly stimulate cardiac autonomic regulation. The transition process partially slows down and becomes less pronounced with increasing age. Increasing the daily amount of standing up contributes to cardiac autonomic regulation flexibility and helps mitigating cardiovascular risks from sedentary behaviors. Trial Registration https://drks.de , Unique identifier: DRKS00021712.