Thigh Ischemia-Reperfusion Model Does Not Accelerate Pulmonary VO Kinetics at High Intensity Cycling Exercise

Background: We aimed to investigate the effect of a priming ischemia-reperfusion (IR) model on the kinetics of pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO₂) and cardiopulmonary parameters after high-intensity exercise. Our primary outcome was the overall VO₂ kinetics and secondary outcomes were heart rate (HR) and O₂ pulse kinetics. We hypothesized that the IR model would accelerate VO₂ and cardiopulmonary kinetics during the exercise. Methods: 10 recreationally active men (25.7 ± 4.7 years; 79.3 ± 10.8 kg; 177 ± 5 cm; 44.5 ± 6.2 mL kg^-1 min^-1) performed a maximal incremental ramp test and four constant load sessions at the midpoint between ventilatory threshold and VO₂ max on separate days: two without IR (CON) and two with IR (IR). The IR model consisted of a thigh bi-lateral occlusion for 15 min at a pressure of 250 mmHg, followed by 3 min off, before high-intensity exercise bouts. Results: There were no significant differences for any VO₂ kinetics parameters (VO₂ base 1.08 ± 0.08 vs. 1.12 ± 0.06 L min^-1; P = 0.30; τ = 50.1 ± 7.0 vs. 47.9 ± 6.4 s; P = 0.47), as well as for HR (MRT_180s 67.3 ± 6.0 vs. 71.3 ± 6.1 s; P = 0.54) and O₂ pulse kinetics (MRT_180s 40.9 ± 3.9 vs. 48.2 ± 5.6 s; P = 0.31) between IR and CON conditions, respectively. Conclusion: We concluded that the priming IR model used in this study had no influence on VO₂, HR, and O₂ pulse kinetics during high-intensity cycling exercise.