Aerobic high intensity one and two legs interval cycling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the sum of the parts is greater than the whole

• Published in: European journal of applied physiology 2009-07, Vol.106 (4), p.501-507
• Main Authors: Bjørgen, Siri, Hoff, Jan, Husby, Vigdis S., Høydal, Morten A., Tjønna, Arnt E., Steinshamn, Sigurd, Richardson, Russell S., Helgerud, Jan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerobiosis - physiology; Bicycling; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Dyspnea; Exercise; Exercise Test; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart rate; Hospitals; Human Physiology; Humans; Interval training; Leg - physiopathology; Legs; Lung diseases; Male; Maximum oxygen consumption; Medicine; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original Article; Oxygen Consumption; Physical Endurance; Physical Exertion; Physical fitness; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Rehabilitation; Spirometry; Sports Medicine; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports
• ISSN: 1439-6319; 1439-6327
• DOI: 10.1007/s00421-009-1038-1

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether individual leg cycling could produce higher whole body peak oxygen uptake (VO 2peak ) than two legs cycling during aerobic high intensity interval training in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Nineteen patients trained in 24 supervised cycling sessions either by one leg training (OLT) ( n  = 12) or by two legs training (TLT) ( n  = 7) at 4 × 4 min intervals at 85–95% of peak heart rate. Whole body VO 2peak and peak work rate increased significantly by 12 and 23% in the OLT, and by 6 and 12% in the TLT from pre- to post-training, respectively, and were significantly greater in the OLT than the TLT ( P