How do biathlon athletes control heartrate?

A question came up on another newsgroup about how to control heartrate and
adrenalin rush. Knowing how the top biathlon racers have to control their
heartrate to be able to stop and shoot accurately, is there some kind of
method they use to do this?

Obviously being in great shape helps, but I'm thinking maybe they use a
bio-feedback device or something to aid them.

Pardons if this isn't the right newsgroup to ask this, or if there's a FAQ,
with such answers, a pointer?

TIA,

-Badger

Years ago I attended a meeting with a coach who had done some training in
the former Soviet Union.

Apparently there is a slight pause in heart beat when a person takes a deep
breath. By using bio-feedback techniques they learned to extend this pause
long enough to take a shot. I also remember him saying that he had become
so aware of his heartbeat that he would wake up in the middle of the night
in a panic if his heart rate slowed down too much. I don't remember any
more details than that.

Scott Elliot

"Badger_South" wrote in message
...

A question came up on another newsgroup about how to control heartrate and
adrenalin rush. Knowing how the top biathlon racers have to control their
heartrate to be able to stop and shoot accurately, is there some kind of
method they use to do this?

Obviously being in great shape helps, but I'm thinking maybe they use a
bio-feedback device or something to aid them.

Pardons if this isn't the right newsgroup to ask this, or if there's a
FAQ,
with such answers, a pointer?

TIA,

-Badger

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 17:28:01 GMT, "Scott Elliot"
wrote:

Years ago I attended a meeting with a coach who had done some training in
the former Soviet Union.

Apparently there is a slight pause in heart beat when a person takes a deep
breath. By using bio-feedback techniques they learned to extend this pause
long enough to take a shot. I also remember him saying that he had become
so aware of his heartbeat that he would wake up in the middle of the night
in a panic if his heart rate slowed down too much. I don't remember any
more details than that.

Scott Elliot

Wow. Cool. Thanks a bunch, Scott. This is exactly what I was looking for.
Hope you don't mind if I excerpt your comments over in rec.martial-arts.

Best,
-Badger




"Badger_South" wrote in message
.. .

A question came up on another newsgroup about how to control heartrate and
adrenalin rush. Knowing how the top biathlon racers have to control their
heartrate to be able to stop and shoot accurately, is there some kind of
method they use to do this?

Obviously being in great shape helps, but I'm thinking maybe they use a
bio-feedback device or something to aid them.

Pardons if this isn't the right newsgroup to ask this, or if there's a
FAQ,
with such answers, a pointer?

TIA,

-Badger

I don't know how you can consciously control your heartrate, but your heart
will naturally slow slightly when you take a deep breath, called sinus
arrhythmia, and I suppose if you have a slow heart rate to start with, you can
time your shot appropriately.

Perhaps they "beardown" (sp?), like going to the bathroom, that will stimulate
the vagus nerve and slow the heart, but I don't know how you could consciously
do that otherwise.

jw (ICU Registered Nurse)
milwaukee

On 09 Jul 2004 21:27:48 GMT, (J999w) wrote:

I don't know how you can consciously control your heartrate, but your heart
will naturally slow slightly when you take a deep breath, called sinus
arrhythmia, and I suppose if you have a slow heart rate to start with, you can
time your shot appropriately.

Perhaps they "beardown" (sp?), like going to the bathroom, that will stimulate
the vagus nerve and slow the heart, but I don't know how you could consciously
do that otherwise.

jw (ICU Registered Nurse)
milwaukee

That seems to be the basis for it. Perhaps there's some meditative or
self-hypnosis component, but my thought was bio-feedback. Using that
technique, you can get control over some functions that normally are
thought to be autonomic...like perspiration, brain waves, etc. Maybe
'autonomic' is the wrong word... ;-)

Anyway, thanks for your input!

Best,

-Badger

A story, whose source I can't remember, from some years ago
was that a certain Russian (or USSR) marathon runner who was
said to have won the marathon in successive Olympics maybe
in the 60's, had such control that , standing at the Olympic
startline, his HR was only 40. That's somewhat different from
what this thread is about, but interesting if true. I'm often
way up near 100 at a start, and that hasn't much to do with the
warmup. Does anybody else here know what their HR is whan just
anticipating the start of a race? My resting HR is low 40's,
and typically just standing around 10 minutes after a half
hour warmup it certainly wouldn't be much above 60 if that.

Best, Peter

Badger,

Badger

Are you interested in how to control heartrate when you are resting
like e.g. pistol shooters? Or do you want to know how to shoot
straight after strenuous exercise, like a biathlete?

My brother used to do competitive pistol shooting so I can ask him
about the former.

I discussed this years ago with a couple of Biathletes that I met on
the racing circuit. They said they don't even try to control their
heart rate because it would take too long. One said he tried not to
let his pulse rate drop below 180 when he was shooting, because if it
did, the amplitude of the pulse-induced tremor got too large. I don't
know if this is the up-to-date practice, but I may to be able to find
out if you like.

Regards,

Alex



Badger_South wrote in message . ..
A question came up on another newsgroup about how to control heartrate and
adrenalin rush. Knowing how the top biathlon racers have to control their
heartrate to be able to stop and shoot accurately, is there some kind of
method they use to do this?

Obviously being in great shape helps, but I'm thinking maybe they use a
bio-feedback device or something to aid them.

Pardons if this isn't the right newsgroup to ask this, or if there's a FAQ,
with such answers, a pointer?

TIA,

-Badger