Fig. 1.

Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) responses to single-leg plantar flexion exercise performed in the supine posture in experiment 1. Eight patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD, black circles) and eight healthy subjects matched for age, sex, and body mass index (white squares) exercised for a maximum of 14 min at 20 contractions per minute (0.5 kg to 7.0 kg) with the most symptomatic leg. The fatigue time point represents the last workload performed by each patient with PAD and the corresponding workload of each matched healthy subject. Seven healthy subjects and one patient with PAD completed the entire 14-min protocol (7.0 kg). Values are means ± SE with *P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.