Changes in acid-base balance and blood gases during muscular activity and recovery

Abstract

Changes in the blood gases and acid-base balance during muscular work and recovery were investigated for males and females under various controlled environmental conditions. Changes in venous blood oxygen and carbon dioxide are influenced both by the intensity and duration of the exercise and by the environmental temperature. The pH of the blood is similarly affected. The direct measurement of pH was found to be a better index of the variation in the acid-base balance than the pH calculated from Henderson's equation at a fixed CO₂ pressure. Lactic acid in the blood is, like the blood gases, influenced by ambient conditions, but is more closely related to the intensity than to the duration of the exercise. Submitted on October 28, 1958