The Study
Female athlete's heart: Systolic and diastolic function related to circulatory dimensions
This study looked at how athletes' hearts are different from non-athletes' hearts at one point in time. It found that athletes' hearts are bigger and pump more blood, and that bigger hearts are linked to better stamina — but it doesn't prove that training made their hearts bigger. Maybe they were born with bigger hearts and that's why they became athletes!
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Female athletes who train hard for years develop bigger hearts that fill with more blood, helping them breathe better and run faster.
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 544 / 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.
- 1These differences mean athletes' hearts pump more blood per beat, allowing them to use 33% more oxygen during intense exercise — a major advantage in endurance sports.
- 2Athletes had 114 mL vs.
- 386 mL left heart volume, 35 mm vs.
- 431 mm right heart width, 18 cm² vs.
- 514 cm² left atrium, 27% higher E/A ratio, 15% greater right heart movement, and 52 mL/kg/min vs.
- 639 mL/kg/min VO2max.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Year
2015
Authors
K. Hedman, É. Tamás, Jan Henriksson, N. Bjarnegård, Lars Brudin, Eva Nylander
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.
In women who are either endurance athletes or non-athletes, the amount of blood the left ventricle holds just before it contracts explains 50.3% of the differences in their maximum oxygen consumption during exercise, showing that heart filling capacity strongly influences aerobic performance.
Female endurance athletes have a higher ratio of early to late heart filling during rest compared to non-athletes, due to faster early filling and slower late filling, which reflects more efficient relaxation of the left ventricle.
Female endurance athletes have a 52 mL/kg/min maximal oxygen uptake, while non-athletic women have a 39 mL/kg/min maximal oxygen uptake. This difference reflects a 33% higher aerobic capacity in athletes due to long-term endurance training.
Female endurance athletes have measurably larger heart chambers and atria than women of the same age who do not train endurance sports, even when accounting for body size.
Female endurance athletes have a 15% greater movement of the heart's lower right chamber during pumping compared to non-athletes, with measurements of 21 mm versus 19 mm, and this difference persists even when accounting for differences in the size of the left ventricle.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.