Can strength exercise affect the muscle oxygen saturation response?

Purpose: The objective of the study was to describe and compare the acute response of muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) and hemoglobin concentration (Hgb) in the vastus lateralis (VL) during resistance exercise protocols until failure.

Methods: Sixteen males were considered (mean ± SD, age = 36.12 ± 6.40 years). Two familiarization sessions and one evaluation session were carried out where three force protocols were executed in the VL, one of them was isometric load (P1) and two of dynamic load (P2 and P3). SmO₂ [%] and Hgb [g/dL] were measured before and after each of these protocols. For P1, three series of 8 s of maximum isometric strength with the rest of 60 s between each set, the average isometric strength (AIS), and the isometric peak strength (IPS) were also recorded. After five minutes, P2 was performed, with an initial load of 40% of AIS. Then, at 30 minutes, P3 was performed considering an initial load of 40% of IPS.

Results: The results suggest (I) minimum levels of SmO₂ (66.31 ± 9.38%) and Hgb (12.22 ± 0.55 g/dL) during P2, (II) no significant differences were observed between the average loads of the respective protocols for SmO₂ and (III) muscle Hgb differed significantly between rest with P1 and P3.

Conclusions: Exercises of increasing intensity and of short duration do not significantly modify SmO₂. However, Hgb increases substantially compared baseline values.