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Eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage of pre-adolescent and adolescent boys in comparison to young men

European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study compared changes in indirect muscle damage markers after maximal eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors (EF) among pre-adolescent (9–10 years), adolescent (14–15 years) and post-adolescent (20–25 years) men to test the hypothesis that the magnitude of muscle damage would increase with increase in age.

Methods

Thirteen untrained men of each age group performed two bouts (ECC1, ECC2) of 30 maximal EF eccentric contractions. Several indirect muscle damage markers were measured from the exercised arm before, immediately after, and 1–5 days post-exercise. Changes in maximal voluntary concentric contraction torque of the EF (MVC), range of motion of the elbow joint, upper arm circumference (CIR), muscle passive stiffness, muscle soreness, plasma creatine kinase activity and myoglobin concentration after ECC1 and ECC2 were compared amongst groups by a mixed-design two-way ANOVA.

Results

MVC before exercise was smaller (P < 0.05) for pre-adolescent (8.9 ± 1.9 Nm) than adolescent (25.1 ± 3.9 Nm) and adult (35.3 ± 4.6 Nm), and for adolescent than adult. Changes in all variables after ECC1 were smaller (P < 0.05) for pre-adolescent and adolescent when compared with adult, and all except CIR changes were smaller (P < 0.05) for pre-adolescent than adolescent. After ECC2, changes in all variables were smaller (P < 0.05) than those after ECC1 for all groups, but the magnitude of the changes was different among groups (P < 0.05) in the same way as that after ECC1.

Conclusion

These results indicate that the magnitude of muscle damage is increased from pre-adolescent, adolescent to post-adolescent men.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

AUC:

The area under the curve

BMI:

Body mass index

CIR:

Upper arm circumference

CK:

Creatine kinase

CV:

Coefficient of variation

DOMS:

Delayed onset muscle soreness

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

ECC1:

The first bout of maximal eccentric exercise

ECC2:

The second bout of maximal eccentric exercise

Mb:

Myoglobin

MPS:

Muscle passive stiffness

MVC:

Maximal voluntary contraction

MVC–EE:

Maximal voluntary isokinetic concentric contraction torque of the elbow extensors

MVC–EF:

Maximal voluntary isokinetic concentric contraction torque of the elbow flexors

PTA:

Peak torque angle

R:

An intraclass correlation coefficient

RM:

Repetition maximum

ROM:

Range of motion

SOR:

Muscle soreness

VAS:

Visual analogue scale

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Acknowledgments

We would like to dedicate this article to Professor Priscilla M. Clarkson (University of Massachusetts) who passed away on 25th of August 2013. She has been mentoring and inspiring us for more than 20 years, and our passion on muscle damage research was given by her. We thank Mr. Shueh-Chien Ko for his assistance in data collection, and Mr. Cheng-Yuang Lu for his assistance in subject recruitment. This research was supported by the National Science Council (NSC 101-2628-H-415-001), “Aim for the Top University Plan” of National Taiwan Normal University and the Ministry of Education, TAIWAN.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that we have no any potential conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The authors declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which we were performed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University, P.O. Box 97-71, Taipei City, Taipei, 11699, Taiwan

    Trevor C. Chen

  2. Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation, National Chiayi University, Chiayi County, Taiwan

    Hsin-Lian Chen

  3. Department of Sports and Recreation Management, Chang Lung Christian University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Yi-Chuen Liu

  4. School of Exercise and Health Sciences, Centre for Exercise and Sports Science Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia

    Kazunori Nosaka

Authors
  1. Trevor C. Chen
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  2. Hsin-Lian Chen
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  3. Yi-Chuen Liu
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  4. Kazunori Nosaka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Trevor C. Chen.

Additional information

Communicated by William J. Kraemer.

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Chen, T.C., Chen, HL., Liu, YC. et al. Eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage of pre-adolescent and adolescent boys in comparison to young men. Eur J Appl Physiol 114, 1183–1195 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-2848-3

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