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Athlete’s heart is hypertropy (thickening of the walls) due to the constant training. The ideal method of differentiating this hypertrophy from other causes is by deconditioning. That is to stop athletic training for a few weeks and observe whether the hypertrophy regressess. If it regresses, it is true athlete’s heart. If not, other causes like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy have to be thought of. Athletes have a slow heart rate and sometimes lower grades of atrioventricular blocks as part of the athlete’s heart syndrome. It is important to differentiate between athlete’s heart and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as the latter condition can cause sudden death during sports.
