The combination of deep breathing and mental imagery promotes cardiovascular recovery in firefighters

Abstract

Firefighters’ rescue operations involve intense physical activity associated with a high level of cardiovascular stress. To sustain such intense physical performance whilst maintaining a healthy heart, it is crucial that they benefit from rapid recovery between each intervention. This study aimed at investigating the impacts of a recovery protocol combining deep breathing and mental imagery. Forty firefighters were divided into two experimental groups which undertook two maximum fitness tests separated by either the control recovery protocol (30 min reading time; n = 20) or the experimental recovery protocol (30 min of deep breathing and mental imagery; n = 20). When compared to the pre-tests, the percentage evolution ratios in the post-tests for the Cooper performance, the heart rate recovery and the parasympathetic reactivation were promoted by the experimental protocol, compared to simple reading. In light of these results, we propose the use of practices of deep-breathing combined with mental imagery to improve firefighters’ recovery.

Practitioner summary: Firefighters’ activities involve intense physical activities associated with a high level of psychological stress. Enhancing their recovery after each rescue intervention appears crucial. The results of this study showed that a recovery protocol combining deep breathing and mental imagery promotes heart rate recovery and better maintenance of physical fitness.

Keywords:

• Firefighter physical performance
• heart rate variability
• autonomic nervous system
• cardiovascular recovery
• Cooper test

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all firefighters who participated in this study for their contribution. The authors would also like to thank Lieutenant Colonel Petit and the institutional board of the Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours de Seine et Marne for all their support to the project. The authors thank the Polar France Company for supporting this study by providing free access to equipment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).