European Journal of Applied Physiology

, Volume 92, Issue 4–5, pp 533–539 | Cite as

Mechanomyographic responses in human biceps brachii and soleus during sustained isometric contraction

  • Tetsuya Kimura
  • Taku Hamada
  • Takeo Watanabe
  • Akifumi Maeda
  • Tomomichi Oya
  • Toshio Moritani
Original Article
First Online:
Accepted:

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the responses of the mechanomyogram (MMG) from two apparently different muscles (biceps brachii and soleus) during a sustained voluntary contraction at 50% maximum voluntary contraction. The MMG and surface electromyogram (EMG) were recorded from human biceps brachii and soleus during sustained elbow flexion and plantar flexion, respectively. Results indicated that the slope coefficient of rise in EMG amplitude as a function of time for the biceps was significantly greater than that for the soleus (P<0.001). On the contrary, the MMG amplitude of the biceps showed a significant increase during the initial phase of sustained contraction (P<0.05); however, when exhaustion was approached the amplitude declined significantly (P<0.05). In the soleus muscle the decrease in MMG amplitude toward exhaustion occurred to a much lesser extent than that observed in the biceps. This difference could be attributed to the nature of the fusion state of the underlying muscle fibers. That is, the great extent of fusion observed in the biceps may be as a result of a greater quantity of fatigable motor units. In addition, the absence of MMG reduction in the soleus would indicate the absence of fatigue-induced slowing of contractile machinery and/or the lack of full activation (tetanus) of muscle fibers even at the exhaustion phase of plantar flexion.

Keywords

Mechanomyogram Fatigue Voluntary contraction Fusion property 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (B) no. 15300231 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. We also thank Mr. Aaron M. Saikin for careful reading of the manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2004

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tetsuya Kimura
    • 1
  • Taku Hamada
    • 1
  • Takeo Watanabe
    • 1
  • Akifumi Maeda
    • 1
  • Tomomichi Oya
    • 1
  • Toshio Moritani
    • 1
  1. 1.Laboratory of Applied PhysiologyThe Graduate School of Human and Environmental StudiesKyotoJapan

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