title: Muscle activation during exercise in severe acute hypoxia: role of absolute and relative intensity.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of severe acute hypoxia on muscle activation during whole body dynamic exercise. Eleven young men performed four incremental cycle ergometer tests to exhaustion breathing normoxic (FIO2=0.21, two tests) or hypoxic gas (FIO2=0.108, two tests). Surface electromyography (EMG) activities of rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis (VL), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris (BF) were recorded. The two normoxic and the two hypoxic tests were averaged to reduce EMG variability. Peak VO2 was 34% lower in hypoxia than in normoxia (p<0.05). The EMG root mean square (RMS) increased with exercise intensity in all muscles (p<0.05), with greater effect in hypoxia than in normoxia in the RF and VM (p<0.05), and a similar trend in VL (p=0.10). At the same relative intensity, the RMS was greater in normoxia than in hypoxia in RF, VL, and BF (p<0.05), with a similar trend in VM (p=0.08). Median frequency increased with exercise intensity (p<0.05), and was higher in hypoxia than in normoxia in VL (p<0.05). Muscle contraction burst duration increased with exercise intensity in VM and VL (p<0.05), without clear effects of FIO2. No significant FIO2 effects on frequency domain indices were observed when compared at the same relative intensity. In conclusion, muscle activation during whole body exercise increases almost linearly with exercise intensity, following a muscle-specific pattern, which is adjusted depending on the FIO2 and the relative intensity of exercise. Both VL and VM are increasingly involved in power output generation with the increase of intensity and the reduction in FIO2.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Physical Education, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Campus Universitario de Tafira s/n, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain .
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torres-Peralta
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Losa-Reyna
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Izal
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Perez-Suarez
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calle-Herrero
authors.forename: Mikel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.forename: José A L
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Calbet
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004576:Electromyography; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D052097:Quadriceps Muscle / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: electromyogram; exercise; fatigue; human; hypoxia, median frequency; root mean square