Circulatory changes in man during mild supine exercise

¹ Cardiovascular Pulmonary Laboratory, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Medical Center, Denver, Colorado

Cardiac output and femoral A-V oxygen difference were measured in each of seven normal men at rest and during several stints of supine exercise to investigate the mechanisms of oxygen transport for stepwise increments of oxygen uptake. The femoral A-V oxygen difference increased sharply for mild exercise and showed smaller further increase for heavier exercise stints. The pulmonary A-V oxygen difference followed a similar behavior where the changes were of smaller magnitude. For mild exercise, increasing oxygen transport apparently depends to a greater extent on increasing femoral tissue oxygen extraction and to a lesser extent on increased femoral and total blood flow. For heavier exertion, increasing oxygen transport depends to a greater extent on increasing flow and to a smaller extent on a widening tissue oxygen extraction. Mechanisms which are utilized to meet the increased metabolic demands of exercise depend in part upon the severity of the exertion. Cardiac output appears not to be a simple linear function of oxygen uptake for various metabolic demands ranging from rest to heavy exercise.