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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1449384
This article is part of the Research Topic Muscle Oxygenation and Vascular Adaptations in Sports Performance and Rehabilitation View all 4 articles

Muscle reoxygenation is slower at higher cycling intensity, and is faster and more reliable in locomotor than in accessory muscle sites

Provisionally accepted
Jem I. Arnold Jem I. Arnold 1*Assaf Yogev Assaf Yogev 1Hannah Nelson Hannah Nelson 2Martijn van Hooff Martijn van Hooff 3Michael Koehle Michael Koehle 1,4,5
  • 1 School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 2 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 3 Department of Sports and Exercise, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, Netherlands
  • 4 Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Faculty of Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
  • 5 Division of Sport & Exercise Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Wearable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used during dynamic exercise and reflect the balance of muscle oxygen delivery and uptake. This study describes the behaviour and reliability of postexercise reoxygenation with NIRS as a function of exercise intensity at four muscle sites during an incremental cycling test. We discuss physiological components of faster and slower reoxygenation kinetics in the context of sport science and clinical applications. We hypothesised that reoxygenation would be slower at higher intensity, and that locomotor muscles would be faster than accessory muscles. We quantified test-retest reliability and agreement for each site. Methods: Twenty-one trained cyclists performed two trials of an incremental cycling protocol with 5-min work stages and 1-min rest between stages. NIRS was recorded from the locomotor vastus lateralis and rectus femoris muscles, and accessory lumbar paraspinal and lateral deltoid muscles. Reoxygenation time course was analysed as the half-recovery time (HRT) from the end of work to half of the peak reoxygenation amplitude during rest. Coefficient of variability (CV) between participants, standard error of the measurement (SEM) within participants, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for test-retest reliability were evaluated at 50%, 75%, and 100% peak workloads. A linear mixed-effects model was used to compare differences between workloads and muscle sites. Results: HRT was slower with increasing workload in the VL, RF, and PS, but not DL. VL had the fastest reoxygenation (lowest HRT) across muscle sites at all workloads (HRT=8, 12, 17 sec at 50%, 75%, 100% workload, respectively). VL also had the greatest reliability and agreement. HRT was sequentially slower between muscle sites in the order of VL

    Keywords: near-infrared spectroscopy, Muscle Oxygenation, Muscle oxygen uptake, wearable, exercise testing, repeatability, Re-oxygenation, Recovery

    Received: 14 Jun 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Arnold, Yogev, Nelson, van Hooff and Koehle. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jem I. Arnold, School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.