Relationship among muscle strength, muscle endurance, and skeletal muscle oxygenation dynamics during ramp incremental cycle exercise

Peak oxygen uptake (VO₂), evaluated as exercise tolerance, is a strong predictor of life prognosis regardless of health condition. Several previous studies have reported that peak VO₂ is higher in those with a greater decrease in muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) in the active muscles during incremental exercise. However, the skeletal muscle characteristics of individuals exhibiting a greater decrease in SmO₂ during active muscle engagement in incremental exercise remain unclear. This study aimed to clarify the relationship among muscle strength, muscle endurance, and skeletal muscle oxygenation dynamics in active leg muscles during incremental exercise. Twenty-four healthy young men were included and categorized into the non-moderate-to-high muscular strength and endurance group (those with low leg muscle strength, endurance, or both; n = 11) and the moderate-to-high muscular strength and endurance group (those with both moderate-to-high leg muscle strength and endurance; n = 13). All participants underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing combined with near-infrared spectroscopy to assess whole-body peak VO₂ and the change in SmO₂ at the lateral vastus lateralis from rest to each exercise stage as skeletal muscle oxygenation dynamics. A linear mixed-effects model, with the change in SmO₂ from rest to each stage as the dependent variable, individual participants as random effects, and group and exercise load as fixed effects, revealed significant main effects for both group (P = 0.001) and exercise load (P < 0.001) as well as a significant interaction between the two factors (P < 0.001). Furthermore, multiple-comparison test results showed that the change in SmO₂ from rest to 40%-100% peak VO₂ was significantly higher in the moderate-to-high muscular strength and endurance group than in the non-moderate-to-high muscular strength and endurance group. Maintaining both muscle strength and endurance at moderate or higher levels contributes to high skeletal muscle oxygenation dynamics (i.e., greater decrease in SmO₂) during moderate- or high-intensity exercise.