Reproducibility and sensitivity of muscle reoxygenation and oxygen uptake recovery kinetics following running exercise in the field

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of postexercise near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-derived measurements and their sensitivity to different exercise intensities in the field. Seventeen athletes (24·1 ± 5·6 year) repeated, on three occasions, two 2-min submaximal shuttle-runs at 40% and 60% of V(IFT) (final speed of the 30-15 intermittent fitness test) and a 50-m shuttle-run sprint (Sprint), with (OCC) or without (CON) repeated transient arterial occlusions of the medial gastrocnemius during the postexercise period. NIRS variables (i.e. oxyhaemoglobin [HbO(2)], deoxyhaemoglobin [HHb] and their difference [Hb(diff)]) were measured continuously for 3 min after each exercise. Half-recovery (½Rec) and mean response (MRT; monoexponential curve fitting) times of muscle reoxygenation and muscle oxygen uptake (mVO(2)) recovery were calculated. Reliability was assessed using the typical error of measurement, expressed as a coefficient of variation (CV). Postexercise recovery of muscle reoxygenation revealed CVs ranging from 16·8% to 37·3%; CV for mVO(2) recovery ranged from 6·2% to 20·9%, with no substantial differences shown between NIRS variables and exercise intensities. While running, intensity did not affect MRT or ½Rec for muscle reoxygenation, and differences were found for mVO(2) recovery (e.g. [Hb(diff)]-mVO(2) MRT = 28·7 ± 5·2, 34·2 ± 5·1 and 37·3 ± 6·2 s for 40%, 60% and Sprint, respectively, P<0·01). To conclude, the kinetics of postexercise NIRS measurements showed CV values ranging from 6% to 37%, with no substantial differences between exercise intensities or NIRS-derived variables. However, exercise intensity did influence mVO(2) recovery kinetics, but not that of muscle reoxygenation in an occlusion-free condition.

Reliability of telemetric electromyography and near-infrared spectroscopy during high-intensity resistance exercise

“…Indeed, moderate and strong intratest ICC values were observed when monitoring HbO 2min and TSI min during most single-repetition sets at each exercise intensity. The easy-to-use non-invasive nature of NIRS, and its practicality during tests in the laboratory or the field, make it an attractive method to monitor muscle oxygenation status during and following exercise (Buchheit et al, 2011). Moreover, the results of the current investigation are similar to those reported for the reliability of NIRS to quantify muscle re-oxygenation and oxygen uptake recovery kinetics following intermittent running activity (Buchheit et al, 2011).…”

Test–retest reliability of skeletal muscle oxygenation measurements during submaximal cycling exercise in patients with chronic heart failure

“…The present study showed similar relative reliability, however, inferior absolute reliability for recovery kinetics of TSI compared to onset kinetics. Problematic fitting of the mono‐exponential function seems a key issue in the reliability of recovery kinetics, as has been confirmed by other authors (Buchheit et al ., ). It is especially troublesome for [HHb] recovery kinetics, where it was not feasible in six tests, with the remaining recovery responses producing lower coefficients of determination than for TSI.…”

Recent developments in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the assessment of local skeletal muscle microvascular function and capacity to utilise oxygen

“…In healthy subjects the technique has shown good reproducibility that is uninfluenced by the type of exercise 54, 58. Good agreement has been demonstrated between NIRS derived recovery time constants and phosphocreatine (PCr) recovery time constants found with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) 59 as well as good correlation with in vitro assessed oxidative capacity via muscle biopsy analysis 60 …”