Exhaustive Intermittent Cycling Preferentially Decreases Explosive Over Maximal Voluntary Torque in the Knee Extensors, With No Difference Between Normoxia and Moderate to Severe Hypoxia.

PURPOSE

To compare the effects of graded hypoxia during exhaustive intermittent cycling on subsequent rapid and maximal torque-production capacity.

METHODS

Fifteen well-trained cyclists repeated intermittent cycling bouts (15 s at 30% of anaerobic power reserve; rest = 45 s) until exhaustion at sea level (FiO2 ∼0.21/end-exercise arterial oxygen saturation ∼96%), moderate hypoxia (FiO2 ∼0.16/∼90%), and severe hypoxia (FiO2 ∼0.12/∼79%). Rapid (rate of torque development [RTD]) and maximal isometric torque-production capacities of the knee extensors were assessed at baseline (visit 1) and exhaustion (visits 2-4).

RESULTS

Exercise capacity decreased with hypoxia severity (39 [30], 22 [13], and 13 [6] cycle efforts in sea level, moderate hypoxia, and severe hypoxia, respectively; P = .002). Changes in maximal-voluntary-contraction torque between baseline and postexercise in all conditions were not statistically significant (pooled values: -2.6% [5.7%]; P = .162). Peak RTD measured postexercise was reduced below baseline in all conditions (-21.5% [5.1%]; P ≤ .015). Compared with baseline, absolute RTD values were lower at 0- to 30-millisecond (-35.1% [5.3%], P ≤ .020), 0- to 50-millisecond (-40.0% [3.9%], P ≤ .002), 0- to 100-millisecond (-30.7% [3.7%], P ≤ .001), and 0- to 200-millisecond (-18.1% [2.4%], P ≤ .004) time intervals in all conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Exhaustive intermittent cycling induces substantial yet comparable impairments in RTD of knee extensors between normoxia and moderate to severe hypoxia.