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Muscle fatigue: from observations in humans to underlying mechanisms studied in intact single muscle fibres

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Abstract

Prolonged dynamic exercise and sustained isometric contractions induce muscle fatigue, as manifested by decreased performance and a reduction in the maximum voluntary contraction force. Studies with non-invasive measurements in exercising humans show that mechanisms located beyond the sarcolemma are important in the fatigue process. In this review, we describe probable cellular mechanisms underlying fatigue-induced changes in excitation–contraction (E–C) coupling occurring in human muscle fibres during strenuous exercise. We use fatigue-induced changes observed in intact single muscle fibres, where force and cellular Ca2+ handling can be directly measured, to explain changes in E–C coupling observed in human muscle during exercise.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish National Center for Sports Research for funding.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Movement Sciences and Sport Medicine, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Genève, Rue du conseil général 10, 1205, Genève, Switzerland

    Nicolas Place

  2. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, von Eulers väg 8, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden

    Takashi Yamada, Joseph D. Bruton & Håkan Westerblad

Authors
  1. Nicolas Place
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  2. Takashi Yamada
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  3. Joseph D. Bruton
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  4. Håkan Westerblad
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicolas Place.

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Communicated by Nigel Taylor.

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Place, N., Yamada, T., Bruton, J.D. et al. Muscle fatigue: from observations in humans to underlying mechanisms studied in intact single muscle fibres. Eur J Appl Physiol 110, 1–15 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1480-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1480-0

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