Cardiopulmonary responses at various angles of cycle backrest inclination

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiopulmonary responses during submaximal cycle exercise at various angles of backrest inclination. Ten healthy Japanese men of mean age 25.9 yrs, height 170.6 cm, and body mass 66.1 kg, performed cycle exercises at a constant workload which reached the anaerobic threshold, at 20 degrees, 40 degrees, and 60 degrees of backrest inclination from the vertical plane, but the angle between the seat and back rest was kept at 110 degrees. The results were as follows: 1) Both cardiac output and stroke volume showed a higher value at the resting control state and during exercise as the backrest angle increased. 2) Oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide output, heart rate, gas exchange ratio, and oxygen pulse were not affected by the angle of backrest inclination. 3) Tidal volume at 20 degrees of backrest inclination was higher than at 60 degrees. 4) No significant differences were found in minute ventilation between each backrest angle. These findings suggest that changes in the backrest angle significantly alter cardiopulmonary parameters at rest and during exercise; in particular, an angle difference of 40 degrees may be enough to alter tidal volume, cardiac output and stroke volume, but not the minute ventilation.