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

by Jacob L. Schwartz, Trishawna A. Fongwoo, Robert F. Bentley

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 (SmO₂) 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 SmO₂ 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 SmO₂ (%) 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 SmO₂ were unaffected by arm dominance (all p>0.05). While arm dominance did not influence SmO₂ during absolute intensity exercise (p = 0.506), the non-dominant arm in females experienced an attenuated reduction in SmO₂ 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 SmO₂ during handgrip exercise.