Central and Regional Circulatory Effects of Adding Arm Exercise to Leg Exercise

Abstract

7 young, healthy, male subjects performed exercise on bicycle ergometers in two 20 min periods with an interval of 1 h. The first 10 min of each 20 min period consisted of arm exercise (38--62% of Vo2 max for arm exercise) or leg exercise (58--78% of Vo2 max for leg exercise). During the last 10 min the subjects performed combined arm and leg exercise (71--83% of Vo2 max for this type of exercise). The following variables were measured during each type of exercise: oxygen uptake, heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, cardiac output, leg blood flow (only during leg exercise and combined exercise), arterio-venous concentration differences for O2 and lactate at the levels of the axillary and the external iliac vessels. Superimposing a sufficiently strenuous arm exercise (oxygen uptake for arm exercise greater than 40% of oxygen uptake for combined exercise) on leg exercise caused a reduction in blood flow and oxygen uptake in the exercising legs with unchanged mean arterial blood pressure. Superimposing leg exercise on arm exercise caused a decrease in mean arterial blood pressure and an increased axillary arterio-venous oxygen difference. These findings indicate that the oxygen supply to one large group of exercising muscles may be limited by vasoconstriction or by a fall in arterial pressure, when another large group of muscles is exercising simultaneously.

Blood temperature and perfusion to exercising and non‐exercising human limbs

“…In humans, the increases in local perfusion and oxygen uptake (${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2})$ during leg exercise are much greater than during arm exercise, reflecting differences in muscle mass and work capacity (Secher et al . 1977; Knight et al . 1992; Volianitis & Secher, 2002; Calbet et al .…”

Effects of dynamic upper-body exercise on lower-limb isometric endurance

“…In protocol A, heart rate, _ V E , _ V O 2 , and _ V CO 2 were all significantly higher, at every time-point during effort. Now the juxtaposition of body parts, in relation to gravity, is not radically dissimilar in these experiments to that during cycling, for which it has been shown that the addition of upper-body activity to ongoing lower-body effort reduces blood flow in the latter's musculature (''blood stealing'': Andersen & Saltin, 1985;Saltin, 1985;Secher, Clausen, Klausen, Noer, & Trap-Jensen, 1977). Accordingly, we need to identify a physiological mechanism that can assist leg function, and so help to counteract the detrimental effects of competition for cardiac output.…”

Is the balance between skeletal muscular metabolic capacity and oxygen supply capacity the same in endurance trained and untrained subjects?

“…This is a demonstration of reduced muscular perfusion that results in an oxygen delivery insufficient to support the muscular metabolic capacity during whole body exercise. The mechanism behind this is a systemic vasoconstriction of the arterial vessels feeding the exercising muscles during bicycling that is necessary to maintain blood pressure (Secher et al, 1977;Secher & Volianitis, 2006). The highest mass-specific bloodflow and VO 2 in humans is probably achieved during 1-KE (Andersen et al, 1985a;Richardson et al, 1995b).…”