Cardiorespiratory response to dynamic and static leg press exercise in humans

The purpose of this study is to examine the cardiovascular and metabolic responses between dynamic and static exercise when a leg press exercise is performed. Seven participants (20-21 yrs) were recruited for the experiment. Four modes of dynamic or static leg press exercise were assigned in two combined conditions: a unilateral or a bilateral condition and two exercise intensities with 20% and 40% of maximal voluntary contraction (20% MVC, 40% MVC). The duration of the dynamic exercise and the static exercise at 20% MVC was six minutes, and the static exercise at 40% MVC was three minutes. In the dynamic exercise, ventilation (VE), O2 uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP, DBP) reached the steady-state after 3 min exercise, while in the static leg press, these responses continued to increase at the end of exercise. The alteration in VO2 mostly depended on both exercise intensity and the one- or two-leg condition during the dynamic leg press, whereas no significant difference in VO2 during the static leg press was found in the four modes. The alterations in rate-pressure product (RPP) depended solely on exercise intensity and leg condition. These findings suggest that the static leg press causes a greater rise in HR, SBP, and DBP. In addition, RPP appears particularly sensitive to experimental modes.