Biofeedback heart rate training during exercise.

Eighteen healthy human subjects participated in weekly sessions of five 10-minute trials of walking on a treadmill at 2.5 mph and 6% grade. Eight experimental subjects received beat-to-beat heart rate biofeedback during the exercise and were instructed to try to lower their heart rates; ten control subjects did not receive feedback. By the end of 5 weeks (25 trials), the experimental group showed a significantly lower mean heart rate (96.8 vs. 108.6 bpm), systolic blood pressure (114.0 vs. 131.3 mmHg), and rate--pressure product (11.0 X 10(3) vs. 14.3 X 10(3) bpm-mmHg) during exercise than the control group. These differences were maintained after crossover of the feedback provision for five more weeks.