This work had two goals, to study the effect of hand dominance on myoelectric signal variables and fatigue indexes in back muscles and to assess the repeatability of the estimates of such variables. Myoelectric manifestations of muscle fatigue were studied in the right and left longissimus dorsi muscles of five right-handed and five left-handed normal male subjects. Myoelectric signals (M waves), evoked by stimulation applied to a muscle's motor point, were detected with surface electrodes. Each test consisted of eliciting a tetanic contraction of 30 s duration with supramaximal stimulation at 25 Hz and was repeated five times on 5 different days for each subject. The mean and median frequencies of the resulting power spectra of the M waves were plotted vs. time, and fatigue indexes were obtained from the time course of these variables. Only two-thirds of the elicited contractions provided signals of sufficiently good quality to obtain reliable estimates of the mean and median frequencies. Criteria for acceptability are described. Analysis of variance and paired comparisons showed a statistically significant effect of side dominance on fatigue indexes in the right-handed subjects but not in the left-handed subjects. Normalized initial slope and other fatigue indexes based on spectral variables demonstrated myoelectric manifestations of fatigue that were greater on the dominant side. We surmise that the differences are related to the fiber type modifications associated with the unilateral usage of the upper limbs and the consequent activation of the nondominant side of the back.
