Abstract
Purpose
While various fitness tests have been developed to assess physical performances, it is unclear how these tests are affected by differences, such as, in morphological and neural factors. This study was aimed to investigate associations between individual differences in physical fitness tests and neuromuscular properties.
Methods
One hundred and thirty-three young adults participated in various general physical fitness tests and neuromuscular measurements. The appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) was estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Echo intensity (EI) was evaluated from the vastus lateralis. During submaximal knee extension force, high-density surface electromyography of the vastus lateralis was recorded and individual motor unit firings were detected. Y-intercept (i-MU) and slope (s-MU) from the regression line between the recruitment threshold and motor unit firing rate were calculated.
Results
Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that knee extension strength could be explained (adjusted R2 = 0.712) by ASM (β = 0.723), i-MU (0.317), EI (− 0.177), and s-MU (0.210). Five-sec stepping could be explained by ASM (adjusted R2 = 0.212). Grip strength, side-stepping, and standing broad jump could be explained by ASM and echo intensity (adjusted R2 = 0.686, 0.354, and 0.627, respectively). Squat jump could be explained by EI (adjusted R2 = 0.640). Counter-movement jump could be explained by EI and s-MU (adjusted R2 = 0.631). On the other hand, i-MU and s-MU could be explained by five-sec stepping and counter-movement jump, respectively, but the coefficients of determination were low (adjusted R2 = 0.100 and 0.045).
Conclusion
Generally developed physical fitness tests were mainly explained by morphological factors, but were weakly affected by neural factors involved in performance.
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Data availability
Data that support the findings of the present study are presented in the text, figures, and table, and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the volunteers for their participation in this study. The authors also appreciate Prof. Aleš Holobar of the University of Maribor, Slovenia, for supporting the analyses of motor unit firing properties using the DEMUSE tool.
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This study was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows (21J00674).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by TH and KW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by TH and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Hirono, T., Okudaira, M., Takeda, R. et al. Association between physical fitness tests and neuromuscular properties. Eur J Appl Physiol 124, 1703–1717 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05394-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05394-y