Effects of aerobic cycling training on O2 dynamics in several leg muscles in early post-myocardial infarction

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the effects of aerobic cycling training on O2 dynamics in several leg muscles in early post-myocardial infarction (post-MI). Fifteen post-MI patients were divided into a 12-week training group (TR, n = 9) or a control/non-training group (CON, n = 6). All participants performed ramp bicycle exercise until exhaustion at two times: within 12–35 days of their MI and then again 12 weeks later. Muscle O2 saturation (SmO2) and total hemoglobin concentration (∆total-Hb) were monitored continuously at thigh and lower leg muscles by near infrared spectroscopy. In CON, there were no significant alterations in muscle O2 dynamics between before and after 12 weeks at any measurement sites. In TR, after 12 weeks, lower SmO2 was observed at all measurement sites. In total-Hb, no significant changes were found after training at any measurement sites in TR. Moreover, the muscle deoxygenation after 12 weeks was related to an improvement of peak O2 uptake in all muscles. Our findings suggest that aerobic cycling training may be useful for early post-MI patients to improve peak aerobic capacity via enhancement of muscle deoxygenation and O2 extraction at several leg muscles.