At the onset of exercise, the cardiovascular system adapts with a series of
integrated responses to meet the metabolic demands of the exercising muscl
es. The importance of rapid increases in cardiac output and local muscle bl
ood flow has been established by showing that small decreases in O-2 supply
at the onset of exercise cause delays in the increase in O-2 utilization.
With the development of techniques that can be applied to instantaneous mea
surement of the cardiovascular response, the mechanisms that regulate incre
ased muscle perfusion have recently been investigated. In this introduction
to the symposium, a model of the within muscle distribution of blood flow
is considered as a function of the measured responses across an exercising
skeletal muscle. This model demonstrates the necessity of considering the d
istribution of blood flow to the working fibers very early in exercise. The
symposium provides insight into our current understanding of the factors i
nvolved in the regulation of skeletal muscle blood flow at the onset of exe
rcise. Our ability to study the impact of cardiovascular disease on exercis
e performance has improved with the development of selective pharmacologica
l agents to block or stimulate specific components of the cardiovascular re
sponse. These advances should provide the basis for future research.