Objective  To observe the changes of heart rate variability and catecholamines in the process of lower limb intermittent negative pressure intervening on the elite rowers.

  Methods  14 national rowers were recruited to be divided into the experimental group and control group.The participants of experimental group were treated for 5 days by the Vacusport Regeneration System for 4 weeks, while the control group did not receive any intervention.Heart rate variability was tested and catecholamines of venous blood was tested before and after the 4-week intervention.

  Results  There was no statistical difference for all indicators between the two groups before the experiment. After the intervention:① the time domain indicator SDNN of the experimental group was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). ② In the frequency domain indicator, the HF of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05) and the LF/HF of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). ③There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the catecholamines, but the catecholamines in the experimental group decreased greatly than that in the control group.

  Conclusions  The 4-week intermittent negative pressure intervention has a positive effect on the recovery of athletes' autonomic nervous system function, and it has a tendency to inhibit the secretion of catecholamines in the body, which may be beneficial to reducing cardiac load and promoting physiological recovery after exercise.