Journal: Experimental Physiology

Article Title: The impact of biological sex and stroke volume constituents on heterogeneity in the Q ˙ – V ˙ O 2 relationship and skeletal muscle saturation during cycling

doi: 10.1113/EP093845

Figure Lengend Snippet: Visual schematic of exercise protocol. Following 5 min of rest, submaximal exercise was completed at 40, 80 and 120 W until minute 20. Afterwards, intensity increased by 25 W/min until volitional exhaustion. All exercise was completed in a semi‐upright body position (∼40° incline, ergometer pictured). Echocardiography was recorded at rest and during the last 3 min of each exercise stage up to 120 W (orange rectangle). Continuous measures collected included whole body V ˙ O 2 , near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and heart rate. Data were analysed as an average of the last 30 s of each stage (blue arrow). Intermittent measures were recorded at rest and each exercise intensity (blue arrow, last 30 s) and include ratings of perceived exertion (RPE).

Article Snippet: Skeletal muscle oxygen saturation of the right vastus lateralis muscle was measured by continuous wave near‐infrared spectroscopy (Moxy NIRS; Fortiori Design LLC, Hutchinson, MN, USA) at a sampling frequency of 2 Hz.

Techniques: Spectroscopy