Local Muscle Oxygenation Differences between Lower Limbs according to Muscle Mass in Breath-Hold Divers

Abstract

Oxidative potential and anaerobic capacity could be influential to the training regimen and performance of breath-hold diving (BHD) athletes. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the differences in local muscle oxygenation between the lower limbs according to the muscle mass percentage in spearfishermen and freedivers. The sample of participants included 21 BHD athletes (13 freedivers; 8 spearfishermen; 4 females). Their chronological age was 35.5 ± 8.6 years, body mass was 79.3 ± 9.1 kg, and height was 182.5 ± 13.0 cm. Participants’ training experience was 10.6 ± 9.5 years. The variables in this study included anthropometric indices, the Wingate anaerobic test, and muscle oxygen dynamics parameters. The results show significant differences for freedivers between the lower limbs (muscle mass percentage, p < 0.00; minimal SmO2%, p = 0.05; and maximal SmO2%, p = 0.04). However, when observing only spearfisherman, there is only one significant difference between the dominant and non-dominant lower limb (percentage of lower limb muscle mass, 85.73 ± 2.42, 85.16 ± 2.40%, respectively; p = 0.02). The results of this study demonstrate that freedivers have significant asymmetries between the lower limbs in muscle oxygenation parameters when observing the lower limb dominance in relation to the percentage of muscle mass. These findings suggest different muscular oxygenation adaptations to the load set upon athletes.