[Interval exercise in arterial occlusive disease]

During intermittent exercise with periods of six minutes with two minutes pause the fluctuations in arterial and popliteal venous blood of lactate and pyruvate as well as changes in the lactate pyruvate ratio were studied in eleven patients with claudicatio intermittens. Oxygen uptake stabilizes itself within 4-6 min during exercise and VO2 at the end of an exercise period is higher than in the beginning of recovery. The level of arterial lactate does not vary significantly. The highest venous lactate was found in the pause. Significant differences in venous lactate, pyruvate and lactate pyruvate ratio were found between the first and second exercise. It is concluded that during intermittent exercise less glycogen was used and that this glycogen saving effect seems to have been accomplished both by a shift towards more oxidative metabolism and by a greater contribution from other substrates than glycogen.