The effect of self-identified arm dominance on exercising forearm hemodynamics and skeletal muscle desaturation

Abstract

The human forearm model is commonly employed in physiological investigations exploring local vascular function and oxygen delivery; however, the effect of arm dominance on exercising forearm hemodynamics and skeletal muscle oxygen saturation (SmO ₂) in untrained individuals is poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of self-identified arm dominance on forearm hemodynamics and SmO ₂ in untrained individuals during submaximal, non-ischemic forearm exercise. Twenty healthy individuals (23±4 years, 50% female; 80% right-handed) completed three-minute bouts of supine rhythmic (1 second contraction: 2 second relaxation duty cycle) forearm handgrip exercise at both absolute (10kg; 98N) and relative (30% of maximal voluntary contraction) intensities in each forearm. Beat-by-beat measures of forearm blood flow (FBF; ml/min), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP; mmHg) and flexor digitorum superficialis SmO ₂ (%) were obtained throughout and averaged during the final 30 seconds of rest, exercise, and recovery while forearm vascular conductance was calculated (FVC; ml/min/100mmHg). Data are Δ from rest (mean±SD). Absolute force production did not differ between non-dominant and dominant arms (97±11 vs. 98±13 N, p = 0.606) whereas relative force production in females did (69±24 vs. 82±25 N, p = 0.001). At both exercise intensities, FBF _RELAX, FVC _RELAX, MAP _RELAX, and the time constant tau for FBF and SmO ₂ were unaffected by arm dominance (all p>0.05). While arm dominance did not influence SmO ₂ during absolute intensity exercise (p = 0.506), the non-dominant arm in females experienced an attenuated reduction in SmO ₂ during relative intensity exercise (-14±10 vs. -19±8%, p = 0.026)–though exercise intensity was also reduced (p = 0.001). The present investigation has demonstrated that arm dominance in untrained individuals does not impact forearm hemodynamics or SmO ₂ during handgrip exercise.