In order to evaluate the changes induced by two different competitive sport activities on the cardiovascular performance without influences due to recent training, we studied 10 weightlifters (WL), 10 bicyclists (B) and 10 controls (C) matched for age (WL: 24.4±6.9; B: 21.3±3.5; C: 23.3±6.6 years) and body surface area (WL: 1.99±0.2; B: 1.78±0.3; C: 1.88±0.2 mq).The athletes studied did not perform any sporting activity in the three months preceding this study.Subjects were studied both at rest and during isometric stress (hand‐grip) by radionuclide angiocardiography and M‐mode and Two‐dimensional echocardiography.We found that a medium term period of no training does not remove the cardiovascular differences between the two kinds of athlete studied, either at rest or during isometric stress.