Metabolic response of type I and II muscle fibers during repeated bouts of maximal exercise in humans

Abstract

Nine male subjects performed two bouts of 30-s maximal isokinetic cycling. Each bout of exercise was performed at 80 revolutions/min and was separated by 4 min of recovery. Mixed-muscle phosphocreatine (PCr) resynthesis during recovery (88.1 +/- 6.1%) was positively correlated with the restoration of total work production during bout 2 (r = 0.80, P < 0.05). During bout 1, ATP and PCr utilization were greater in type II compared with type I fibers (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). The subsequent 4-min period of recovery was insufficient to allow total restoration of ATP and PCr in type II fibers, but restoration of ATP and PCr in type I fibers was almost complete. During the second bout of exercise, ATP and PCr utilization were reduced in type II fibers (P < 0.01), without a corresponding change in type I fibers, and performance was also significantly reduced. The reduction in work capacity observed during bout 2 may have been related to a slower resynthesis, and consequently a reduced availability, of ATP and PCr in type II fibers.