Influence of muscle oxygenation and nitrate-rich beetroot juice supplementation on O2 uptake kinetics and exercise tolerance

We tested the hypothesis that acute supplementation with nitrate (NO3-)-rich beetroot juice (BR) would improve quadriceps muscle oxygenation, pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO2) kinetics and exercise tolerance (Tlim) in normoxia and that these improvements would be augmented in hypoxia and attenuated in hyperoxia. In a randomized, doubleblind, cross-over study, ten healthy males completed two-step cycle tests to Tlim following acute consumption of 210 mL BR (18.6 mmol NO3-) or NO3--depleted beetroot juice placebo (PL; 0.12 mmol NO3-). These tests were completed in normobaric normoxia [fraction of inspired oxygen content (FIO2): 21%], hypoxia (FIO2: 15%) and hyperoxia (FIO2: 40%). Pulmonary VO2 and quadriceps tissue oxygenation index (TOI), derived from multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy, were measured during all trials. Plasma [nitrite] was higher in all BR compared to all PL trials (P0.05). These findings indicate that BR supplementation is more likely to improve Tlim and peak VO2 in situations when skeletal muscle is more hypoxic.