The Study
Assessing the relationship between left ventricular diastolic and systolic function during exercise in healthy volunteers using a novel individualised stress echocardiography protocol
This study looked at how two parts of the heart move together when people exercise, and found that when one part works harder, the other tends to change in a predictable way. But it didn't make anyone exercise or change anything—it just watched what happened, so we can't say one thing causes the other.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
When you exercise, your heart’s pumping muscle gets stronger (LV-S’ goes up), but the pressure to fill it doesn’t increase (E/E’ stays flat). This only happens during exercise, not when you’re resting.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 537 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this shows healthy hearts naturally balance pumping and filling during exercise, which helps explain why some heart diseases fail under stress.
- 2LV-S’ went up during exercise; E/E’ stayed the same.
- 3The stronger the pump, the lower the filling pressure — but only when exercising (b=-0.71 at high intensity).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging
Year
2025
Authors
C. Sharma, J. Gibb, M. Smith, M. Williams, A. Haywood, C. Emirza Cilbir, C. Wadey, A. G. Stuart, G. Pieles, C. A. Williams, D. Dorobantu
Related Content
Claims (6)
During exercise, the proportion of time the heart spends contracting versus relaxing is different in endurance athletes compared to people who are not trained athletes.
During moderate and high-intensity exercise in healthy people aged 9–65, the heart's pumping strength increases while the pressure filling the heart remains unchanged, showing a consistent inverse relationship between these two functions during exercise that does not occur at rest and is not explained by age, heart rate, fitness, or activity levels.
In healthy people, the connection between the heart's pumping strength and filling pressure changes only during moderate or high-intensity exercise, not at rest, after accounting for age, heart rate, fitness, and activity levels.
As people age, their heart's diastolic filling pressure is higher at rest and during exercise, but the change in pressure during exercise and its relationship to the heart's pumping function remain unchanged with age.
An exercise stress echocardiogram adjusted to a person's individual exercise capacity and breathing thresholds accurately measures heart pumping and relaxation during physical activity, regardless of their baseline fitness level.
In healthy people, the heart's ability to pump blood forcefully during exercise rises steadily as exercise intensity increases, regardless of heart rate, age, fitness level, or how active the person is.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.