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Effects of a 5-h hilly running on ankle plantar and dorsal flexor force and fatigability

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of a 5-h hilly run on ankle plantar (PF) and dorsal flexor (DF) force and fatigability. It was hypothesised that DF fatigue/fatigability would be greater than PF fatigue/fatigability. Eight male trail long distance runners (42.5 ± 5.9 years) were tested for ankle PF and DF maximal voluntary isokinetic contraction strength and fatigue resistance tests (percent decrement score), maximal voluntary and electrically evoked isometric contraction strength before and after the run. Maximal EMG root mean square (RMSmax) and mean power frequency (MPF) values of the tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) and soleus (SOL) EMG activity were calculated. The peak torque of the potentiated high- and low-frequency doublets and the ratio of paired stimulation peak torques at 10 Hz over 100 Hz (Db10:100) were analysed for PF. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction strength of PF decreased from pre- to post-run (−17.0 ± 6.2%; P < 0.05), but no significant decrease was evident for DF (−7.9 ± 6.2%). Maximal voluntary isokinetic contraction strength and fatigue resistance remained unchanged for both PF and DF. RMSmax SOL during maximal voluntary isometric contraction and RMSmax TA during maximal voluntary isokinetic contraction were decreased (P < 0.05) after the run. For MPF, a significant decrease for TA (P < 0.05) was found and the ratio Db10:100 decreased for PF (−6.5 ± 6.0%; P < 0.05). In conclusion, significant isometric strength loss was only detected for PF after a 5-h hilly run and was partly due to low-frequency fatigue. This study contradicted the hypothesis that neuromuscular alterations due to prolonged hilly running are predominant for DF.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Mr Corentin Chalençon for the analysis of the EMG data and Dr Amanda Johnson for the English revision of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

We affirm that we have no financial affiliation (including research funding) or involvement with any commercial organisation that has a direct financial interest in any matter included in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Sports Medicine Programme, ASPIRE Health Centre—ASPETAR, 2006 Asian Games Road, Doha, Qatar

    François Fourchet

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, ISSUL Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Bâtiment Vidy, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Grégoire P. Millet & Francis Degache

  3. Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Katja Tomazin

  4. Department of Physiotherapy, HECVSanté, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Kenny Guex

  5. Biomedical and Health Sciences Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia

    Ken Nosaka

  6. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of medicine, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France

    Pascal Edouard

  7. Université de Lyon, 42023, Saint-Etienne, France

    Pascal Edouard & Guillaume Y. Millet

Authors
  1. François Fourchet
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  2. Grégoire P. Millet
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  3. Katja Tomazin
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  4. Kenny Guex
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  5. Ken Nosaka
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  6. Pascal Edouard
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  7. Francis Degache
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  8. Guillaume Y. Millet
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Correspondence to François Fourchet.

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Communicated by Jean-René Lacour.

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Fourchet, F., Millet, G.P., Tomazin, K. et al. Effects of a 5-h hilly running on ankle plantar and dorsal flexor force and fatigability. Eur J Appl Physiol 112, 2645–2652 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2220-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2220-9

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