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Hemoglobin desaturation in highly trained athletes during heavy exercise
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|April 1, 1986
Summary
Highly trained athletes experience significant arterial desaturation during intense exercise, with lower oxygen saturation linked to higher maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). This challenges previous assumptions about pulmonary function in elite endurance athletes.
Area of Science:
- Exercise Physiology
- Cardiorespiratory Function
Background:
- Pulmonary system typically maintains arterial oxygen tension during sea-level exercise.
- Recent evidence suggests this may not hold true for highly trained athletes with high metabolic demands.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and arterial oxygen-hemoglobin saturation (%SaO2) during heavy exercise.
- To compare these physiological responses in trained athletes versus untrained individuals.
Main Methods:
- Ten trained distance runners and seven untrained males performed 3-minute exercise bouts at 95% of their VO2max.
- Minute-by-minute %SaO2 was measured using ear oximetry.
Main Results:
- A significant inverse correlation was found between %SaO2 and VO2max during exercise (r = -0.68 to -0.72).
- Trained athletes showed a greater decrease in %SaO2 (87.0%) compared to untrained individuals (92.6%) at 3 minutes of exercise.
- Resting %SaO2 was similar between groups, but exercise revealed significant differences.
Conclusions:
- Healthy, highly trained endurance athletes experience arterial desaturation during strenuous exercise.
- The degree of arterial desaturation is inversely related to an athlete's VO2max.