Two weeks of lower body resistance training enhances cycling tolerability to improve precision of maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing in sedentary middle-aged females

Abstract

It is not uncommon for sedentary individuals to cite leg fatigue as the primary factor for test termination during a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) on a cycle ergometer. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of 2 weeks of lower body resistance training (RT) on cardiopulmonary capacity in sedentary middle-aged females. Additionally, the impact of RT on muscle strength was evaluated. Following familiarization, 28 women (18 exercise group, 10 control group) completed a maximal CPET on a cycle ergometer to determine peak oxygen uptake and leg extensor strength assessed using isokinetic dynamometry. Participants in the exercise group performed 2 weeks (6 sessions) of lower body RT, which comprised leg press, leg curl, and leg extension exercises. A 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the difference in changes of peak oxygen uptake and peak torque (PT). Peak oxygen uptake significantly improved from 22.2 ± 4.5 mL·kg−1·min−1 to 24.3 ± 4.4 mL·kg−1·min−1 (10.8%, p < 0.05) as well as PT from 83.1 ± 25.4 Nm to 89.0 ± 29.7 Nm (6.1%, p < 0.05) in the exercise group with no change in the control group. These findings provide initial evidence that 2 weeks of lower body RT prior to a CPET may be a helpful preconditioning strategy to achieve a more accurate peak oxygen uptake during testing, enhancing tolerability to a CPET by improving lower body strength.

Do people with musculoskeletal pain differ from healthy cohorts in terms of global measures of strength? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Baseline bilateral leg press strength values are available in healthy adult women cohorts. 85,86 These did not show significant differences in comparison with adult women with rheumatoid arthritis and knee osteoarthritis included in our review. 43,61 Conversely, leg press strength values of healthy adult men 87 appeared to show significant differences with adult men with persistent low back pain.…”

“…Furthermore, although strength values were entered in the database by the active individuals directly, the values obtained from our active cohort were not different from published research where investigators collected the data. 85 , 86 , 90 , 91 This may indicate that testing using simple and commercially available weight machines is fairly simple, albeit careful quality checking to ensure guidelines are followed 13 , 92 during strength assessment is recommended in further research.…”

Comparison of time‐matched aerobic, resistance or combined exercise training in women living with obesity: The EXOFFIT study

“…56 Improved leg strength with RE, as observed in this study (þ6.9 kg), is linked with enhanced tolerability to cardiopulmonary testing and thus higher CRF in sedentary females. 57 a Note that IPAQ data is truncated in line with IPAQ scoring guidelines. 26 Daily time spent in different activity categories, which exceeded 3 h was truncated using a scoring spreadsheet by Cheng.…”

Impact of community-based exercise program participation on aerobic capacity in women with and without breast cancer

“…For CTL participants, this is substantially lower than conventional standards[ 36 ]. Recently, our laboratory has consistently observed impaired VO 2peak in both BCS and middle-aged, sedentary women without cancer[ 37 , 38 ]. We speculate that this may reflect a regional fitness characteristic but warrants further investigation.…”