BACKGROUND: Volleyball players in diff erent specializations are required to meet specifi c demands in terms
of movement behaviour and skills performance. These specifi c demands need to be individualized according to the
training ability level (adaptability to sports training) of particular players, which is mainly dependent on the activity
of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (SA HRV) gives us information
on cardiac activity regulation, where the activity of ANS participates in a signifi cant way. Longitudinal assessment
of SA HRV within a certain part of a training period can help us to observe the dynamics of the ANS activity and
adaptability (training ability) changes of an observed player to training.
OBJECTIVE: The goal of the work was to verify the possibility of volleyball playersʼ training load optimalization
during a one week training microcycle based on the longitudinal observation of dynamics of SA HRV complex indices.
METHODS: The SA HRV method was used for the evaluation of autonomic cardiac regulation. The study group
consisted of eight volleyball players who took part in 28 training sessions focused on conditioning and volleyball skills
development. During the microcycle, there were 7 HRV examinations.
RESULTS: The results demonstrated that notable and considerably varied changes in the activity of ANS in players
were assessed owing to both training and extra-training stimuli. The results in two players show a high activity of ANS
which enables them to increase their training intensity. Four players achieved average values of their ANS activity,
which refl ects a corresponding training load. In the last two players we found a very low level of their ANS activity
and it refers to their reduced adaptability to the training load, which was too high for them.
CONCLUSION: The presented results support the necessity of the individualization of, at least a part of, team
training. Such an optimalization and increase of training process effi ciency should lead to a sports performance im-
provement, also in team sports games.