Abstract
Purpose
Changes in elbow flexion torque and biceps brachii electromyogram (EMG) activity over 30 repetitive maximal voluntary concentric-only (CON-only), eccentric-only (ECC-only), and alternative concentric and eccentric (CON-ECC, 30 concentric + 30 eccentric) contractions were examined to compare their muscle fatigue profiles.
Methods
Fifteen healthy young men performed CON-only, ECC-only and CON-ECC in their maximal effort between 10° and 100° elbow flexion on an isokinetic dynamometer at an angular velocity of 30°/s with a 3-s rest between contractions in a randomised order with ≥ 3 days between conditions. Changes in torque and EMG over the repeated contractions and maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC-ISO) torque with EMG before the first contraction and immediately after the last contraction were compared among conditions by two-way repeated measures analysis of variance.
Results
The torque decreased (p < 0.01) from the first to 30th contraction in CON-only (− 49.5 ± 11.0%), ECC-only (− 32.2 ± 7.4%), and concentric (− 62.3 ± 8.7%) as well as eccentric phase (− 58.9 ± 9.3%) in CON-ECC (− 46.0 ± 12.3% overall). The magnitude of the decrease in the torque was greater (p < 0.01) for the CON-only than ECC-only, and the concentric than an eccentric phase in the CON-ECC. However, MVC-ISO torque decreased (p < 0.01) similarly after CON-only (− 42.9 ± 13.8%) and ECC-only (− 40.1 ± 9.2%), which was smaller (p < 0.01) than CON-ECC (− 56.8 ± 9.2%). EMG over contractions decreased (p < 0.01) for all conditions similarly from the first to the last contraction (− 28.5 ± 26.8%), and EMG in MVC-ISO also decreased similarly for all conditions (− 24.7 ± 35.8%).
Conclusion
These results suggest greater fatigue resistance in repetitive maximal eccentric than concentric contractions, but the fatigue assessed by MVC-ISO does not show it.
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Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the article.
Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- EMG:
-
Electromyogram
- ES:
-
Effect size
- MVC-CON:
-
Maximum voluntary isometric contraction
- MVC-ECC:
-
Maximum voluntary eccentric contraction
- MVC-ISO:
-
Maximum voluntary concentric contraction
- POST:
-
Immediately after intervention
- PRE:
-
Before intervention
- RMS:
-
Root mean square
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
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The authors gratefully acknowledge all participants involved in this study.
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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI #19K19890 (Masatoshi Nakamura).
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RY, KN and MN designed the study. RY, KK, YM and SS collected the data, and RY, KN and MN analysed the data, drafted and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
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Communicated by Michalis G Nikolaidis.
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Yoshida, R., Kasahara, K., Murakami, Y. et al. Less fatiguability in eccentric than concentric repetitive maximal muscle contractions. Eur J Appl Physiol 123, 1553–1565 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05178-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05178-4