Experimental physiology
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Experimental physiology · Dec 2013
Clinical TrialEffect of inspiratory muscle fatigue on exercise performance taking into account the fatigue-induced excess respiratory drive.
Inspiratory muscle fatigue (IMF) is suggested to compromise exercise performance, possibly via a respiratory muscle metaboreflex that impairs blood flow to working muscles, thereby accelerating the development of fatigue in these muscles. Cycling with IMF has also been associated with an excess ventilatory response, which could per se impair performance. Therefore, the present study investigated whether prior-induced IMF would affect subsequent cycling performance via increased quadriceps muscle fatigue alone and whether fatigue-induced excess ventilation would contribute to this impairment. ⋯ The reduction in P(tw) and Q(tw) was greater after PF-EX (P(tw), 17.3 ± 9.7%; Q(tw), 32.0 ± 10.8%) than after MATCH-ISO (P(tw), 10.8 ± 10.3%; Q(tw), 23.3 ± 15.2%; P < 0.05), which may explain the increased perception of exertion and earlier task failure with prior-induced IMF. The augmented ventilatory drive had no effect on reductions in P(tw) and Q(tw) after MATCH-ISO compared with C-ISO. Thus, prior-induced IMF reduces exercise performance, probably as a result of the increased quadriceps muscle fatigue and thus greater perception of exertion independent of the excess respiratory drive when cycling with fatigued inspiratory muscles.