Influence of exercise intensity and cadence on hemodynamic characteristics after severe-intensity exercise

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that the change in pulse wave velocity (PWV) from baseline to immediately after exercise would not be altered by changes in intensity or cadence. Methods: Twelve participants performed a ramp incremental test until task failure and a 3-minute all-out test to determine critical power for each subject. Using a blind-study method, subjects performed cycling tests for all conditions. The first condition was exercise at the lower range of the severe intensity (S1) domain at a cadence of 60 RPM. We had two conditions in the upper range of the severe intensity domain (S2), one at a cadence of 60 RPM and the other at 100 RPM. Baseline and post-exercise pulse wave was measured and used to calculate pulse wave velocity. Results: Severe intensity exercise led to a decrease in PWV from baseline to immediately after exercise at the start of the recovery phase. No significant difference was found between the severe intensities 1 and 2 at the same pedal frequency (p=0.13). No significant difference was found between the different cadences of 60 RPM vs 100 RMP (p=0.06). Conclusion: In all conditions, the subjects achieved failure. Findings suggest that when exercises are performed to failure, the PWV immediately post-exercise is not significantly influenced by the cadence or intensity within the severe exercise domain. Further analysis needs to be done to see if over a longer period of recovery differences occur for different cadences or intensity domains.