Abstract
Purpose
The ability to generate quick submaximal muscle forces followed by quick relaxations is essential for various athletic and daily tasks. While force generation has been studied extensively, the studies of force relaxation are scarce. Therefore, we aimed to develop the rate of force relaxation scaling factor (RFR-SF) as a kinetic variable to assess the ability to relax submaximal muscle forces quickly.
Methods
Thirteen young adults performed rapid isometric force pulses to various submaximal levels in two different sessions. We compared RFR-SF with rate of development scaling factor (RFD-SF) in grip force muscles (GF), elbow (EE), and knee extensors (KE) and tested its reliability. Both RFD-SF and RFR-SF were calculated as the slopes of the linear relationship between peak forces and the corresponding peak rates of force development and relaxation, respectively.
Results
RFR-SFs were mainly different among the tested muscle groups (GF 8.22 ± 0.76 1/s; EE 7.64 ± 0.92 1/s; KE 6.01 ± 1.75 1/s) and there was no correlation among them (all p > 0.05). Within each tested muscle group, RFR-SF was lower than RFD-SF (GF 9.29 ± 1.05 1/s; EE 10.75 ± 0.87 1/s; KE 9.66 ± 0.89 1/s; all p < 0.001). The reliability of RFR-SF was moderate to good across the tested muscles (ICCs between 0.54 and 0.76 and all CVs < 15%).
Conclusion
The RFR-SF is a clinically relevant kinetic variable that can reliably quantify the ability to relax a muscle force quickly. Future studies should assess both RFD-SF and RFR-SF as they represent different properties of the neuromuscular system.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Paulo B. de Freitas for his comments on the manuscript.
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MU designed the study. MU, RM, and MA recruited participants. RM and MA collected and analyzed data. MU, RM, and MA interpreted the results of the experiment. MU wrote the first draft and revised the manuscript. RM edited the text.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Communicated by Nicolas Place.
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Mathern, R.M., Anhorn, M. & Uygur, M. A novel method to assess rate of force relaxation: reliability and comparisons with rate of force development across various muscles. Eur J Appl Physiol 119, 291–300 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4024-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4024-7