scholarly journals Potentiation Increases Peak Twitch Torque by Enhancing Rates of Torque Development and Relaxation

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 83-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Froyd ◽  
Fernando Gabe Beltrami ◽  
Jørgen Jensen ◽  
Timothy David Noakes

Abstract The aim of this study was to measure the extent to which potentiation changes in response to an isometric maximal voluntary contraction. Eleven physically active subjects participated in two separate studies. Single stimulus of electrical stimulation of the femoral nerve was used to measure torque at rest in unpotentiated quadriceps muscles (study 1 and 2), and potentiated quadriceps muscles torque in a 10 min period after a 5 s isometric maximal voluntary contraction of the quadriceps muscles (study 1). Additionally, potentiated quadriceps muscles torque was measured every min after a further 10 maximal voluntary contractions repeated every min (study 2). Electrical stimulation repeated several times without previous maximal voluntary contraction showed similar peak twitch torque. Peak twitch torque 4 s after a 5 s maximal voluntary contraction increased by 45±13% (study 1) and by 56±10% (study 2), the rate of torque development by 53±13% and 82±29%, and the rate of relaxation by 50±17% and 59±22%, respectively, but potentiation was lost already two min after a 5 s maximal voluntary contraction. There was a tendency for peak twitch torque to increase for the first five repeated maximal voluntary contractions, suggesting increased potentiation with additional maximal voluntary contractions. Correlations for peak twitch torque vs the rate of torque development and for the rate of relaxation were r2= 0.94 and r2=0.97. The correlation between peak twitch torque, the rate of torque development and the rate of relaxation suggests that potentiation is due to instantaneous changes in skeletal muscle contractility and relaxation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1336-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Grazioli ◽  
Pedro Lopez ◽  
Lars L. Andersen ◽  
Carlos Leonardo Figueiredo Machado ◽  
Matheus Daros Pinto ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Lusa Cadore ◽  
Miriam González-Izal ◽  
Rafael Grazioli ◽  
Igor Setuain ◽  
Ronei Silveira Pinto ◽  
...  

Purpose: To compare the concentric and eccentric training effects on fatigue induced by eccentric and concentric protocols. Methods: A total of 22 men and women (22 [3.6] y) were assigned to concentric (GCON, n = 11) or eccentric training (GECC, n = 11). The concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) protocols were composed of 4 sets of 20 knee-extension/flexion repetitions. Force losses were analyzed by comparing 10 repetitions’ mean torques during the protocols and by verifying the maximal voluntary contraction and rate of torque development before and after the protocols. Muscle damage was assessed using echo intensity of the vastus lateralis 48 h after the protocols. Training consisted of 6 wk of isokinetic exercise at 60°/s (concentric or eccentric) twice weekly. Results: Before training, both protocols resulted in dynamic and isometric force losses in GCON and GECC (P < .01), but the magnitude was greater after the CON protocol than after the ECC protocol (P < .001). After training, both GCON and GECC showed similar force decreases during the CON and ECC protocols (P < .01), and these changes were not different from the pretraining decreases. Regarding maximal voluntary contraction after training, GECC showed lower force decreases than GCON after ECC exercise (−13.7% vs −22.3%, respectively, P < .05), whereas GCON showed lower maximal voluntary contraction decreases after CON exercise compared with pretraining (−29.2%, P < .05). Losses in rate of torque development were similar after the protocols before and after the training regimens. No changes in echo intensity were observed after the protocols before and after training. Conclusion: Both interventions resulted in similar force decreases during fatigue protocols compared with those associated with pretraining.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew I.B. Debenham ◽  
Geoffrey A. Power

Muscle length and preceding activity independently influence rate of torque development (RTD) and electromechanical delay (EMD), but it is unclear whether these parameters interact to optimize RTD and EMD. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of muscle length and preceding activity on RTD and EMD during voluntary and electrically stimulated (e-stim) contractions. Participants (n = 17, males, 24 ± 3 years) performed isometric knee extensions on a dynamometer. Explosive maximal contractions were performed at 2 knee angles (35° and 100° referenced to a 0° straight leg) without preceding activity (unloaded, UNL) and with preceding activities of 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque. Absolute and normalized voluntary RTD were slowed with preceding activities ≥40% MVC for long muscle lengths and all preceding activities for short muscle lengths compared with UNL (p < 0.001). Absolute and normalized e-stim RTD were slower with preceding activities ≥40% MVC compared with UNL (p < 0.001) for both muscle lengths. Normalized RTD was faster at short muscle lengths than at long muscle lengths (p < 0.001) for e-stim (∼50%) and voluntary (∼32%) UNL contractions, but this effect was not present for absolute RTD. Muscle length did not affect EMD (p > 0.05). EMD was shorter at 80% MVC compared with UNL (∼35%; p < 0.001) for both muscle lengths during voluntary but not e-stim contractions. While RTD is limited by preceding activity at both muscle lengths, long muscle lengths require greater preceding activity to limit RTD than short muscle lengths, which indicates long muscle lengths may offer a “protective effect” for RTD against preceding activity.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Ian Goodlich ◽  
Sean A Horan ◽  
Justin J Kavanagh

Serotonin (5-HT) is a neuromodulator that is critical for regulating the excitability of spinal motoneurons and the generation of muscle torque. However, the role of 5-HT in modulating human motor unit activity during rapid contractions has yet to be assessed. Nine healthy participants (23.7 ± 2.2 yr) ingested 8 mg of the competitive 5-HT2 antagonist cyproheptadine in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures experiment. Rapid dorsiflexion contractions were performed at 30%, 50% and 70% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), where motor unit activity was assessed by high-density surface electromyographic decomposition. A second protocol was performed where a sustained, fatigue-inducing dorsiflexion contraction was completed prior to undertaking the same 30%, 50% and 70% MVC rapid contractions and motor unit analysis. Motor unit discharge rate (p < 0.001) and rate of torque development (RTD; p = 0.019) for the unfatigued muscle were both significantly lower for the cyproheptadine condition. Following the fatigue inducing contraction, cyproheptadine reduced motor unit discharge rate (p < 0.001) and RTD (p = 0.024), where the effects of cyproheptadine on motor unit discharge rate and RTD increased with increasing contraction intensity. Overall, these results support the viewpoint that serotonergic effects in the central nervous system occur fast enough to regulate motor unit discharge rate during rapid powerful contractions.


2003 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 829-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taija Finni ◽  
John A. Hodgson ◽  
Alex M. Lai ◽  
V. Reggie Edgerton ◽  
Shantanu Sinha

The distribution of strain along the soleus aponeurosis tendon was examined during voluntary contractions in vivo. Eight subjects performed cyclic isometric contractions (20 and 40% of maximal voluntary contraction). Displacement and strain in the apparent Achilles tendon and in the aponeurosis were calculated from cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance images acquired with a field of view of 32 cm. The apparent Achilles tendon lengthened 2.8 and 4.7% in 20 and 40% maximal voluntary contraction, respectively. The midregion of the aponeurosis, below the gastrocnemius insertion, lengthened 1.2 and 2.2%, but the distal aponeurosis shortened 2.1 and 2.5%, respectively. There was considerable variation in the three-dimensional anatomy of the aponeurosis and muscle-tendon junction. We suggest that the nonuniformity in aponeurosis strain within an individual was due to the presence of active and passive motor units along the length of the muscle, causing variable force along the measurement site. Force transmission along intrasoleus connective tissue may also be a significant source of nonuniform strain in the aponeurosis.


2004 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 1693-1701 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. de Ruiter ◽  
R. D. Kooistra ◽  
M. I. Paalman ◽  
A. de Haan

We investigated the capacity for torque development and muscle activation at the onset of fast voluntary isometric knee extensions at 30, 60, and 90° knee angle. Experiments were performed in subjects ( n = 7) who had high levels (>90%) of activation at the plateau of maximal voluntary contractions. During maximal electrical nerve stimulation (8 pulses at 300 Hz), the maximal rate of torque development (MRTD) and torque time integral over the first 40 ms (TTI40) changed in proportion with torque at the different knee angles (highest values at 60°). At each knee angle, voluntary MRTD and stimulated MRTD were similar ( P < 0.05), but time to voluntary MRTD was significantly longer. Voluntary TTI40 was independent ( P > 0.05) of knee angle and on average (all subjects and angles) only 40% of stimulated TTI40. However, among subjects, the averaged (across knee angles) values ranged from 10.3 ± 3.1 to 83.3 ± 3.2% and were positively related ( r2 = 0.75, P < 0.05) to the knee-extensor surface EMG at the start of torque development. It was concluded that, although all subjects had high levels of voluntary activation at the plateau of maximal voluntary contraction, among subjects and independent of knee angle, the capacity for fast muscle activation varied substantially. Moreover, in all subjects, torque developed considerably faster during maximal electrical stimulation than during maximal voluntary effort. At different knee angles, stimulated MRTD and TTI40 changed in proportion with stimulated torque, but voluntary MRTD and TTI40 changed less than maximal voluntary torque.


2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 2292-2297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maartje L. Schillings ◽  
Dick F. Stegeman ◽  
Machiel J. Zwarts

In the study of fatigue, several methods have been used to calculate the development of central activation failure (CAF) and peripheral fatigue (PF) in the course of a sustained maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). This paper presents a model that enables simultaneous determination of CAF and PF during sustained MVC by using only force registration and superimposed electrical stimulation. In the model, we explicitly use the assumption, which is virtually always made implicitly in earlier studies, that a constant relative fraction of maximal possible force is activated by the electrical stimulation. That fraction can be determined at the start and at the end of a sustained MVC. The model shows that in the course of a sustained MVC, CAF can be calculated by merely using 1) this fraction, 2) the amplitudes of the superimposed force responses to stimulation, and 3) the course of voluntary force. After CAF quantification, the development of PF during MVC becomes available as well. The present study first examines the model assumption with data of sustained MVCs of variable durations on six healthy subjects. Subsequently, it shows CAF values in a group of 27 healthy subjects determined with both the model and a method of linear interpolation for PF estimation. Model-based CAF values were significantly higher during, but not at the start and at the end of, a 2-min sustained MVC. Next to a well-justified CAF determination, the model has the advantage of simultaneously quantifying PF, which was not possible with the previous methods.


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