Physical exertion tolerance after water immersion

Before and after 24-hour water immersion test subjects performed a submaximal workload on a bicycle ergometer. Changes in their hematocrit, circulating plasma volume and fluid balance were compared with those during immersion. As a result, the test subjects were subdivided into two groups. For one group the workload was very hard; adaptation to immersion was accompanied by significant renal losses of fluid from the intra- and extravascular space. The bicycle ergometry test after immersion demonstrated a decrease of exercise tolerance combined with circulatory disorders. The other group showed a higher exercise tolerance; after immersion exercise tolerance remained high at the expense of the reserves that maintained optimal blood supply to the working muscles.