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- Title
The Influence of the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) on Ventilatory Function and Maximal Exercise.
- Authors
Eves, Neil D.; Jones, Richard L.; Petersen, Stewart R.
- Abstract
Our previous work showed that breathing low density gases during exercise with the self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) improves maximal ventilation (VE) and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). This suggests that the SCBA limits exercise by adding a resistive load to breathing. In this study we compared VO2max with and without the various components comprising the SCBA to determine their impact on VO2max. Twelve males performed 4 randomly ordered incremental exercise tests to exhaustion on a treadmill: (1) low-resistance breathing valve only (CON); (2) full SCBA (SCBA); (3) SCBA regulator only (REG); and (4) carrying the cylinder and harness assembly but breathing through a low-resistance breathing valve (PACK). Compared to CON, VO2max was reduced to a similar extent in the SCBA and REG trials (14.9% and 13.1%, respectively). The PACK condition also reduced VO2max, but to a lesser extent (4.8 ± 5.3%). At VO2max, VE was decreased and expiratory mouth pressure and external breathing resistance (BR) were increased in both the SCBA and REG trials. There was a significant correlation between the change in maximal VE and VO2max with the SCBA. The results show that the SCBA reduces VO2max by limiting VE secondary to the increased BR of the SCBA regulator.
- Subjects
TREADMILL exercise tests; VENTILATION; BREATHING apparatus; EXERCISE tests; HEART function tests
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 2005, Vol 30, Issue 5, p507
- ISSN
1066-7814
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1139/h05-137