Cerebro-cardiovascular responses to a countdown before exercise were greater in responders and positively correlated with peak aerobic capacity in young men.
Does a 30-second countdown before voluntary exercise enhance cerebro-cardiovascular responses in young men with higher peak aerobic capacity?
A 30-second countdown before voluntary exercise induces cerebro-cardiovascular responses that are enhanced in young men with higher peak aerobic capacity, potentially accelerating oxygen consumption at the onset of exercise.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
We recently reported that countdown (CD) before voluntary exercise induced cerebral activation and pressor responses, resulting in muscle vasodilation ( J Appl Physiol 128: 1196-1206, 2020). We examined whether responses were enhanced as peak aerobic capacity (⩒O 2peak ) increased. We studied 27 young men with ⩒O 2peak from 25.2 to 61.4 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 . We evaluated CD responses before initiating voluntary cycling at 50% of ⩒O 2peak for 1 min in a semi-recumbent position while measuring middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (V MCA ; Doppler ultrasonography), heart rate, mean arterial pressure (MAP; finger photoplethysmography), oxygen consumption rate (⩒O 2 ), cardiac output (Q˙ c ; Modelflow), total peripheral resistance (MAP/Q˙ c ) and oxygen saturation in thigh muscle (near-infrared spectrometry). All subjects performed 8 trials, intermitted by ≥5-min rest, and were either given a 30-sec countdown (CD+) or immediately signaled to begin exercise (CD−), with the order randomized and counterbalanced. We classified subjects with both V MCA and MAP increases by CD as “responders” (Resp, n=11) and those with either V MCA or MAP increase, or an increase of neither, as “minimal responders” (MinResp, n=16). We found cerebro-cardiovascular and ⩒O 2 responses to CD before starting exercise were all significantly greater in Resp than MinResp (all, P<0.017), and cerebro-cardiovascular responses were significantly correlated with individual ⩒O 2peak in data pooled from both groups (all, P<0.034). The increase in ⩒O 2 by CD in Resp continued for a few seconds after starting exercise. Thus, cerebro-cardiovascular responses to CD before starting voluntary exercise were enhanced as individual ⩒O 2peak increased in young men, which might accelerate ⩒O 2 response at starting exercise.
Manabe et al. (Fri,) reported a other. Cerebro-cardiovascular responses to a countdown before exercise were greater in responders and positively correlated with peak aerobic capacity in young men.