Heart rate in professional musicians

Sixty-two voluntary professional musicians (20 women, 42 men), whose ages ranged between 15 and 71 years old, underwent the test while playing their instruments in real life scenarios, i.e. rehearsals, practice and public concerts. The musicians carried Sport Tester PE4000 (Polar？, Finland) pulsometers to record their HR.In order to compare data from differently aged subjects we calculated their Maximum Theoretical Heart Rate (MTHR). Later on we found out the MTHR percentages (%MTHR) corresponding to the registered HR of each subject in different situations. The value of the MTHR for every musician was obtained by means of the 220 – age (in years) formula.Throughout the HR recordings, we have observed that musicians present a heightened HR while playing (in soloists, mean and maximum HR were 72% and 85%MTHR, respectively). Cardiac demand is significantly higher in concerts than in rehearsals while performing the same musical piece. The HR curves corresponding to the same musician playing in repeated concerts (with the same programme) were similar.The cardiac demand of a professional instrument player is higher than previously described, much greater than what would be expected from a supposedly sedentary activity.The activities of professional musicians, be they rehearsals or public performances, have not been properly studied despite their social importance.When studying the actual effort displayed by a musician while doing his/her work, it is necessary to find a reliable method which does not interfere with their artistic activity. Such a method should be accepted by the person under study, yielding reproducible and easily achievable data, besides being considered as valid by the scientific community. It is well known that, for at least the past 20 years, heart rate (HR) has been analysed and used to measure physical effort in the working and sports fields [1-4].Heart rate can be modified by several environmental factors (temperature, moisture, atmospheric pressur