Neurophysiological and perceptual responses to consecutive days of exhaustive high-intensity interval cycling are dissociated
The psychophysiological mechanisms underpinning potential performance decrement or retention across consecutive exercise days are unknown. Here, we demonstrated that across five days of exhaustive interval cycling, a lesser reliance on anaerobic glycolysis-evidenced by lower lactate and blunted muscle twitch decline-appeared to counterbalance decreased corticospinal excitability and exacerbated perceptions of fatigue, pain, breathlessness, and effort. The elevated perceptual responses likely reflect a supraspinal compensatory mechanism allowing maintenance of performance.
Authors
- Martin J. MacInnis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0377-5800)
- Saied Jalal Aboodarda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5108-2235)
- Kirsty Bannister (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3043-3574)
- Benjamin Pageaux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9302-5183)
- Jenny Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0973-1785)
- Sophie-Jayne Morgan
- Maria Pricop
Institutions
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (CA)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Applied Physiology
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00652.2025
- Primary Topic
- Sports Performance and Training
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Fonds de recherche du Québec
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada