Evolution of inspiratory and expiratory muscle pressures during endurance exercise

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between minute ventilation (V˙e) and net respiratory muscle pressure (Pmus) throughout the breathing cycle [Total Pmus = mean Pmus, i (inspiratory) + mean Pmus, e(expiratory)] in six normal subjects performing constant-work heavy exercise (CWHE, at ∼80% maximum) to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. Pmus was calculated as the sum of chest wall pressure (elastic + resistive) and pleural pressure, and all mean Pmus variables were averaged over the total breath duration. Pmus, i was also expressed as a fraction of volume-matched, flow-corrected dynamic capacity of the inspiratory muscles ([Formula: see text]).V˙e increased significantly from 3 min to the end of CWHE and was the result of a significantly linear increase in Total Pmus (Δ = 43 ± 9% from 3 min to end exercise, P < 0.005) in all subjects ( r = 0.81–0.99). Although mean Pmus, i during inspiratory flow increased significantly (Δ = 35 ± 10%), postinspiratory Pmus, i fell (Δ = −54 ± 10%) and postexpiratory expiratory activity was negligible or absent throughout CWHE. There was a greater increase in mean Pmus, e (Δ = 168 ± 48%), which served to increaseV˙e throughout CWHE. In five of six subjects, there were significant linear relationships betweenV˙eand mean Pmus, i( r = 0.50–0.97) and mean Pmus, e( r = 0.82–0.93) during CWHE. The subjects generated a wide range of Pmus, i/[Formula: see text]values (25–80%), and mean Pmus, i/[Formula: see text]increased significantly (Δ = 42 ± 16%) and in a linear fashion ( r = 0.69–0.99) withV˙ethroughout CWHE. The progressive increase inV˙e during CWHE is due to 1) a linear increase in Total Pmus, 2) a linear increase in inspiratory muscle load, and 3) a progressive fall in postinspiratory inspiratory activity. We conclude that the relationship between respiratory muscle pressure andV˙e during exercise is linear and not curvilinear.