Key pointsr Critical power represents an important threshold for neuromuscular fatigue development and may, therefore, dictate intensities for which exercise tolerance is determined by the magnitude of fatigue accrued.r Peripheral fatigue appears to be constant across O 2 delivery conditions for large muscle mass exercise, but this consistency is equivocal for smaller muscle mass exercise.r We sought to determine the influence of blood flow occlusion during handgrip exercise on neuromuscular fatigue development and to examine the relationship between neuromuscular fatigue development and W .r Blood flow occlusion influenced the development of both peripheral and central fatigue, thus providing further evidence that the magnitude of peripheral fatigue is not constant across O 2 delivery conditions for small muscle mass exercise.r W appears to be related to the magnitude of fatigue accrued during exercise, which may explain the reported consistency of intramuscular metabolic perturbations and work performed for severe-intensity exercise.Abstract The influence of the muscle metabolic milieu on peripheral and central fatigue is currently unclear. Moreover, the relationships between peripheral and central fatigue and the curvature constant (W ) have not been investigated. Six men (age: 25 ± 4 years, body mass: 82 ± 10 kg, height: 179 ± 4 cm) completed four constant power handgrip tests to exhaustion under conditions of control exercise (Con), blood flow occlusion exercise (Occ), Con with 5 min post-exercise blood flow occlusion (Con + Occ), and Occ with 5 min post-exercise blood flow occlusion (Occ + Occ). Neuromuscular fatigue measurements and W were obtained for each subject. Each trial resulted in significant peripheral and central fatigue. Significantly greater peripheral (79.7 ± 5.1% vs. 22.7 ± 6.0%) and central (42.6 ± 3.9% vs. 4.9 ± 2.0%) fatigue occurred for Occ than for Con. In addition, significantly greater peripheral (83.0 ± 4.2% vs. 69.0 ± 6.2%) and central (65.5 ± 14.6% vs. 18.6 ± 4.1%) fatigue occurred for Occ + Occ than for Con + Occ. W was significantly related to the magnitude of global (r = 0.91) and peripheral (r = 0.83) fatigue. The current findings demonstrate that blood flow occlusion exacerbated the development of both peripheral and central fatigue and that post-exercise blood flow occlusion prevented the recovery of both peripheral and central fatigue. Moreover, the current findings suggest that W may be determined by the magnitude of fatigue accrued during exercise.

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Broxterman RM, Ade CJ, Craig JC, Wilcox SL, Schlup SJ, Barstow TJ. Influence of blood flow occlusion on muscle oxygenation characteristics and the parameters of the power-duration relationship. J Appl Physiol 118: 880 -889, 2015. First published February 6, 2015 doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00875.2014.-It was previously (Monod H, Scherrer J. Ergonomics 8: 329 -338, 1965 postulated that blood flow occlusion during exercise would reduce critical power (CP) to 0 Watts (W), while not altering the curvature constant (W=). We empirically assessed the influence of blood flow occlusion on CP, W=, and muscle oxygenation characteristics. Ten healthy men (age: 24.8 Ϯ 2.6 yr; height: 180 Ϯ 5 cm; weight: 84.6 Ϯ 10.1 kg) completed four constant-power handgrip exercise tests during both control blood flow (control) and blood flow occlusion (occlusion) for the determination of the power-duration relationship. Occlusion CP (Ϫ0.7 Ϯ 0.4 W) was significantly (P Ͻ 0.001) lower than control CP (4.1 Ϯ 0.7 W) and significantly (P Ͻ 0.001) lower than 0 W. Occlusion W= (808 Ϯ 155 J) was significantly (P Ͻ 0.001) different from control W= (558 Ϯ 129 J), and all 10 subjects demonstrated an increased occlusion W= with a mean increase of ϳ49%. The present findings support the aerobic nature of CP. The findings also demonstrate that the amount of work that can be performed above CP is constant for a given condition, but can vary across conditions. Moreover, this amount of work that can be performed above CP does not appear to be the determinant of W=, but rather a consequence of the depletion of intramuscular energy stores and/or the accumulation of fatigue-inducing metabolites, which limit exercise tolerance and determine W=. critical power; curvature constant; oxygen delivery; muscle ischemia THE ROBUST NATURE OF THE power-duration relationship (and its equivalents for other modes of exercise) has been well established (26, 27, 52). Nevertheless, the precise physiological mechanisms of the curvature constant (W=), and to a lesser degree critical power (CP), have remained elusive. The growing body of evidence supports that CP represents the highest attainable steady state for aerobic energy production without continually drawing on W= and, as such, demarcates the boundary between the heavy-and severe-intensity exercise domains (4,12,38,39,42,51). It is also evident that W= is a constant term that determines the limit of exercise tolerance (T lim ) for severe-intensity exercise (21, 55). Intramuscular energy stores (35,36,38), the accumulation of fatigue-inducing metabolites (7,18,21,28), and/or the magnitude of the severe-intensity domain (5, 51) have all been postulated to determine W=. Building evidence supports that complete utilization of W= is associated with consistent muscle phosphocreatine ([PCr]), inorganic phosphate ([P i ]), and hydrogen ion concentration ([H ϩ ]) perturbations, which may limit the amount of work performed above CP (28,43,51). Additionally, the rate of W= utilization (but not the magnitude of W=) is influenced by mani...

Craig JC, Broxterman RM, Wilcox SL, Chen C, Barstow TJ. Effect of adipose tissue thickness, muscle site, and sex on near-infrared spectroscopy derived total-[hemoglobin + myoglobin]. J Appl Physiol 123: 1571-1578, 2017. First published September 21, 2017; doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00207.2017 .-Adipose tissue thickness (ATT) attenuates signals from near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and diminishes the absolute quantification of underlying tissues by contemporary NIRS devices. Based on the relationship between NIRS-derived total-[hemoglobin + myoglobin] (total-[Hb + Mb]) and ATT, we tested the hypotheses that the correction factor for ATT 1) is muscle site specific; 2) does not differ between men and women; and that 3) exclusion of the shortest source-detector distance from data analysis increases total-[Hb + Mb]. Fourteen healthy subjects (7 men) rested in a neutral body position (supine or prone) while measurements of total-[Hb + Mb] and ATT were taken at four muscles common to resting and exercise studies: vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), gastrocnemius (GS), and flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS). ATT averaged 6.0 ± 0.4 mm across all muscles. Every muscle showed a negative slope ( r: 0.6-0.94; P < 0.01) for total-[Hb + Mb] as a function of ATT: VL (-34 μM/mm), RF (-26 μM/mm), GS (-54 μM/mm), and FDS (-33 μM/mm). The projected total-[Hb + Mb] at 0 mm ATT ( y-intercept) was 452, 372, 620, and 456 μM for VL, RF, GS, and FDS, respectively. No differences were found between the sexes within VL, RF, or FDS, but men had a greater projected total-[Hb + Mb] at 0 mm for GS (688 ± 44 vs. 552 ± 40 μM; P < 0.05). Exclusion of the shortest source-detector distance increased total-[Hb + Mb] by 12 ± 1 μM ( P < 0.05). The present findings demonstrate that total-[Hb + Mb] should be corrected for ATT using muscle site-specific factors which are not sex specific, except in the case of GS. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an important tool for physiologists and clinicians. However, adipose tissue greatly attenuates the signals from these devices. Correcting for this attenuation has been suggested based on the strength of the relationship between NIRS-derived measurements and the adipose tissue thickness. We show that this relationship is unique to the muscle site of interest but may not be sex specific. Accurate quantification of underlying tissue mandates researchers correct for adipose tissue thickness.

The sustainable duration of severe intensity exercise is well‐predicted by critical power (CP) and the curvature constant (W′). The development of the W′BAL model allows for the pattern of W′ expenditure and reconstitution to be characterized and this model has been applied to intermittent exercise protocols. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the influence of relaxation phase duration and exercise intensity on W′ reconstitution during dynamic constant power severe intensity exercise. Six men (24.6 ± 0.9 years, height: 173.5 ± 1.9 cm, body mass: 78.9 ± 5.6 kg) performed severe intensity dynamic handgrip exercise to task failure using 50% and 20% duty cycles. The W′BAL model was fit to each exercise test and the time constant for W′ reconstitution (τ W′) was determined. The τ W′ was significantly longer for the 50% duty cycle (1640 ± 262 sec) than the 20% duty cycle (863 ± 84 sec, P = 0.02). Additionally, the relationship between τ W′ and CP was well described as an exponential decay (r 2 = 0.90, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, the W′BAL model is able to characterize the expenditure and reconstitution of W′ across the contraction–relaxation cycles comprising severe intensity constant power handgrip exercise. Moreover, the reconstitution of W′ during constant power severe intensity exercise is influenced by the relative exercise intensity, the duration of relaxation between contractions, and CP.