We studied the changes in urinary bicarbonate, urinary pH and some physical parameters such as minute ventilation (VE), oxygen consumption (VO2), respiratory carbon dioxide (VCO2), heart rate, blood pressure, and blood lactate, before and after the submaximal exercise. Six male subjects aged 28-33 years were involved in the study. They performed the incremental exercise test using a bicycle ergometer until exhaustion. Levels of VE, VO2, VCO2, heart rate, and blood pressure increased continuously with an increase in cycling intensity. These parameters markedly decreased and reached the baseline levels within 5-10 minutes after the termination of exercise. According to an increase in cycling intensity, blood lactate increased continuously during exercise, but after termination of exercise the return of lactate to the baseline level was markedly retarded. Urinary bicarbonate and pH were within the range of those at 0 time (baseline levels) from the beginning until 30 minutes after the exercise. However, they began to increase abruptly about 30 minutes after the exercise, and continued to increase extensively for 2 hours thereafter. Such marked increase in urinary bicarbonate and pH seemed to be correlated with the aerobic metabolism of lactate in the muscles, liver, and kidney, finally producing CO2. It was also suggested that the measurement of urinary bicarbonate and pH may be useful for the estimation of physiological changes in the body after submaximal incremental cycling exercise loading.

Bicarbonate and nitric oxide levels are important humoral factors in the blood and are affected by the human body's physical condition. There are few reports, however, on changes in blood bicarbonate and nitric oxide levels during exercise and rest. Since urinary bicarbonate and nitric oxide metabolites reflect the levels of bicarbonate and nitric oxide in the blood, we studied circadian changes in 6 female athletes by monitoring their urinary pH and their levels of urinary bicarbonate and nitric oxide metabolites. Measurements were taken during exercise, rest and sleep. Six female athletes participated in a 3-day team handball training camp where they followed a schedule of exercise, rest and sleep. Urinary samples were collected immediately before and after handball training, at bed-time and upon waking. The urinary pH and levels of urinary bicarbonate and nitric oxide metabolites, including nitrite and nitrate, were examined with a blood gas analyzer and a NOx analyzer. The samples collected after handball training, as compared to the samples taken before exercise, showed a decreased pH, a decrease in levels of bicarbonate and little change in NO metabolites. During rest, urinary bicarbonate, NO metabolites and pH increased markedly in all 6 subjects. The levels of urinary bicarbonate, NO metabolites and pH significantly decreased upon waking. This study took into account the subjects' various physiological conditions when considering the significance of their changes in urinary bicarbonate, NO metabolites and pH during the 3 day handball training program. There were significant circadian changes in the urinary pH, and in the levels of urinary bicarbonate and nitric oxide metabolites, in the athletes involved in the exercise, rest and sleep program at team handball camp.

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the changes in muscle oxygen consumption (VO 2mus ) after food intake as measured by near-infrared continuous wave spectroscopy (NIRcws). Six healthy male subjects were given a meal with a calculated total energy content of 10 kcal/kg body. VO 2mus was measured from 15 min to 150 min after they finished eating. VO 2mus in the finger flexor muscles was estimated by the rate of deoxygenation during arterial occlusion using NIRcws. The absolute value of VO 2mus was calculated using each subject's resting metabolic rate measured by 31 Phosphorus-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 31 P-MRS). Deep tissue temperature (T D ) was also monitored in the forearm same area. The control experiment followed the same protocol but without meal. There was a significant increase in VO 2mus : pre-meal value was 1.47 ± 0.17 M O 2 /s, post-meal peak value (post 120 min) was 2.31 ± 0.38 M O 2 /s (p < .05 vs. pre). In contrast, the control experiment did not show any increase. There was no significant difference in T D between the two experiments. The results indicate that food intake induced a significant increase in VO 2mus . NIRcws can be used to provide specific information about changes in localized muscle metabolism elicited by food intake.

In order to estimate the physiological responses to heavy muscular exercise with dynamic knee extension, the levels of urinary variables such as bicarbonate, urinary pH and blood lactate were studied before and after the exercise. Nine male volleyball players aged 19 or 20 years were involved in the present study. They performed 10%, 30% and 80% 1 repetition maximum (RM) knee extension. The levels of urinary bicarbonate and urinary pH did not change for 2.5 hours after cessation of the exercise with 10% 1 RM load, compared with the baseline levels. When 30% 1 RM loading was given, urinary bicarbonate and pH moderately increased for 2.5 hours. When 80% 1 RM loading was given, both urinary bicarbonate and pH increased immediately after cessation of the exercise, for 2.5 hours. Levels of blood lactate increased extensively within 1 minute after cessation of the exercise in the subjects with 80% 1 RM load, but no significant increase was seen in subjects with 10% 1 RM load. The changes in urinary bicarbonate and pH could be explained by the continuous production of CO2 in the muscular tissues involved in the exercise with a submaximal load where excess postexercise oxygen consumption is accelerated. It is also possible that the liver and muscle where blood lactate is aerobically metabolized could be the cause of these changes. It was also suggested that the measurement of urinary bicarbonate and pH may be useful for the estimation of events in the body after submaximal exercise loading.

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