Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data

Introduction: Unassisted rowing across the Atlantic Ocean is an extreme undertaking challenging the human body in every possible way. The reported rowing journey lasted for 42 days in a small vessel with 12 rowers, each rowing for 12 h a day, broken into 3 h shifts. This schedule disrupts the natura...

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Published in:Frontiers in Physiology
Main Authors: Klaus Zeiner, Babak Dabiri, Ciara Burns, Lena Kummer, Eugenijus Kaniusas
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438
https://doaj.org/article/eebf5248ffa948ab9b3ad342e06a1ec6
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:eebf5248ffa948ab9b3ad342e06a1ec6 2023-10-09T21:54:09+02:00 Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data Klaus Zeiner Babak Dabiri Ciara Burns Lena Kummer Eugenijus Kaniusas 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438 https://doaj.org/article/eebf5248ffa948ab9b3ad342e06a1ec6 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X 1664-042X doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438 https://doaj.org/article/eebf5248ffa948ab9b3ad342e06a1ec6 Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 14 (2023) unassisted rowing resilience autonomic nervous system sleep heart rate variability circadian cycle Physiology QP1-981 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438 2023-09-24T00:38:32Z Introduction: Unassisted rowing across the Atlantic Ocean is an extreme undertaking challenging the human body in every possible way. The reported rowing journey lasted for 42 days in a small vessel with 12 rowers, each rowing for 12 h a day, broken into 3 h shifts. This schedule disrupts the natural circadian cycle and autonomic balance, affecting subjective and objective wellbeing and sleep quality, that lack continuous empirical quantification.Methods: With a self-reported questionnaire and objective heart rate variability measurements every second day in a single female rower, we monitor evolutions of the subjective sleep quality and mental wellbeing as well as autonomic body control over the journey duration. We evaluate the hypothesis that extreme rowing impairs subjective and objective data in a similar way over time and that 3 h shifts diminish the circadian rhythm of the autonomic body control.Results: The sleep quality was mainly influenced by wake ups during sleep, while mental wellbeing was predominantly influenced by physical exhaustion. The perceived sleep quality and wellbeing dropped 2–3 days after the start with the rower not yet accommodated, in the middle of the journey with major wake ups, and again 5–6 days prior to the end with major exhaustion of the participant. Evolutions of the subjective perceptions diverge from that of the heart rate variability. The body’s autonomic recovery during short sleep periods progressively decreases over the journey duration while the vagal activity rises and the sympathovagal balance shifts towards vagal tone. The shifts of 3 h weaken the circadian rhythm of the heart rate variability.Discussion: Our results demonstrate how human body meets extreme mental and physical exhaustion on the high seas. The gained physiological and psychological insights also offer a basis for effective preparation of undertakings involving extreme physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Physiology 14
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic unassisted rowing
resilience
autonomic nervous system
sleep
heart rate variability
circadian cycle
Physiology
QP1-981
spellingShingle unassisted rowing
resilience
autonomic nervous system
sleep
heart rate variability
circadian cycle
Physiology
QP1-981
Klaus Zeiner
Babak Dabiri
Ciara Burns
Lena Kummer
Eugenijus Kaniusas
Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
topic_facet unassisted rowing
resilience
autonomic nervous system
sleep
heart rate variability
circadian cycle
Physiology
QP1-981
description Introduction: Unassisted rowing across the Atlantic Ocean is an extreme undertaking challenging the human body in every possible way. The reported rowing journey lasted for 42 days in a small vessel with 12 rowers, each rowing for 12 h a day, broken into 3 h shifts. This schedule disrupts the natural circadian cycle and autonomic balance, affecting subjective and objective wellbeing and sleep quality, that lack continuous empirical quantification.Methods: With a self-reported questionnaire and objective heart rate variability measurements every second day in a single female rower, we monitor evolutions of the subjective sleep quality and mental wellbeing as well as autonomic body control over the journey duration. We evaluate the hypothesis that extreme rowing impairs subjective and objective data in a similar way over time and that 3 h shifts diminish the circadian rhythm of the autonomic body control.Results: The sleep quality was mainly influenced by wake ups during sleep, while mental wellbeing was predominantly influenced by physical exhaustion. The perceived sleep quality and wellbeing dropped 2–3 days after the start with the rower not yet accommodated, in the middle of the journey with major wake ups, and again 5–6 days prior to the end with major exhaustion of the participant. Evolutions of the subjective perceptions diverge from that of the heart rate variability. The body’s autonomic recovery during short sleep periods progressively decreases over the journey duration while the vagal activity rises and the sympathovagal balance shifts towards vagal tone. The shifts of 3 h weaken the circadian rhythm of the heart rate variability.Discussion: Our results demonstrate how human body meets extreme mental and physical exhaustion on the high seas. The gained physiological and psychological insights also offer a basis for effective preparation of undertakings involving extreme physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Klaus Zeiner
Babak Dabiri
Ciara Burns
Lena Kummer
Eugenijus Kaniusas
author_facet Klaus Zeiner
Babak Dabiri
Ciara Burns
Lena Kummer
Eugenijus Kaniusas
author_sort Klaus Zeiner
title Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
title_short Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
title_full Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
title_fullStr Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
title_full_unstemmed Mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the North Atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
title_sort mental and physiological wellbeing while rowing across the north atlantic: a single-case study of subjective versus objective data
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate 2023
url https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438
https://doaj.org/article/eebf5248ffa948ab9b3ad342e06a1ec6
genre North Atlantic
genre_facet North Atlantic
op_source Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 14 (2023)
op_relation https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438/full
https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X
1664-042X
doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438
https://doaj.org/article/eebf5248ffa948ab9b3ad342e06a1ec6
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1244438
container_title Frontiers in Physiology
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