Etiology of Neuromuscular Fatigue After Repeated Sprints Depends on Exercise Modality

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 878-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Tomazin ◽  
Jean-Benoit Morin ◽  
Guillaume Y. Millet

Purpose:To compare neuromuscular fatigue induced by repeated-sprint running vs cycling.Methods:Eleven active male participants performed 2 repeated-maximal-sprint protocols (5×6 s, 24-s rest periods, 4 sets, 3 min between sets), 1 in running (treadmill) and 1 in cycling (cycle ergometer). Neuromuscular function, evaluated before (PRE); 30 s after the first (S1), the second (S2), and the last set (LAST); and 5 min after the last set (POST5) determined the knee-extensor maximal voluntary torque (MVC); voluntary activation (VA); single-twitch (Tw), high- (Db100), and low- (Db10) frequency torque; and maximal muscle compound action potential (M-wave) amplitude and duration of vastus lateralis.Results:Peak power output decreased from 14.6 ± 2.2 to 12.4 ± 2.5 W/kg in cycling (P < .01) and from 21.4 ± 2.6 to 15.2 ± 2.6 W/kg in running (P < .001). MVC declined significantly from S1 in running but only from LAST in cycling. VA decreased after S2 (~–7%, P < .05) and LAST (~–9%, P < .01) set in repeated-sprint running and did not change in cycling. Tw, Db100, and Db10/Db100 decreased to a similar extent in both protocols (all P < .001 post-LAST). Both protocols induced a similar level of peripheral fatigue (ie, low-frequency peripheral fatigue, no changes in M-wave characteristics), while underlying mechanisms probably differed. Central fatigue was found only after running.Conclusion:Findings about neuromuscular fatigue resulting from RS cycling cannot be transferred to RS running.

2018 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 1246-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enzo Piponnier ◽  
Vincent Martin ◽  
Bastien Bontemps ◽  
Emeric Chalchat ◽  
Valérie Julian ◽  
...  

The aim of the present study was to compare the development and etiology of neuromuscular fatigue of the knee extensor (KE) and plantar flexor (PF) muscles during repeated maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) between children and adults. Prepubertal boys ( n = 21; 9–11 yr) and men ( n = 24; 18–30 yr) performed two fatigue protocols consisting of a repetition of 5-s isometric MVIC of the KE or PF muscles interspersed with 5-s passive recovery periods until MVIC reached 60% of its initial value. The etiology of neuromuscular fatigue of the KE and PF muscles was investigated by means of noninvasive methods, such as the surface electromyography, single and doublet magnetic stimulation, twitch interpolation technique, and near-infrared spectroscopy. The number of repetitions performed was significantly lower in men (15.4 ± 3.8) than boys (38.7 ± 18.8) for the KE fatigue test. In contrast, no significant difference was found for the PF muscles between boys and men (12.1 ± 4.9 and 13.8 ± 4.9 repetitions, respectively). Boys displayed a lower reduction in potentiated twitch torque, low-frequency fatigue, and muscle oxygenation than men whatever the muscle group considered. In contrast, voluntary activation level and normalized electromyography data decreased to a greater extent in boys than men for both muscle groups. To conclude, boys experienced less peripheral and more central fatigue during repeated MVICs than men whatever the muscle group considered. However, child-adult differences in neuromuscular fatigue were muscle-dependent since boys fatigued similarly to men with the PF muscles and to a lower extent with the KE muscles. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Child-adult differences in neuromuscular fatigue during repeated maximal voluntary contractions are specific to the muscle group since children fatigue similarly to adults with the plantar flexor muscles and to a lower extent with the knee extensor muscles. Children experience less peripheral fatigue and more central fatigue than adults, regardless of the muscle group considered.


2012 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Burnley ◽  
Anni Vanhatalo ◽  
Andrew M. Jones

Whether the transition in fatigue processes between “low-intensity” and “high-intensity” contractions occurs gradually, as the torque requirements are increased, or whether this transition occurs more suddenly at some identifiable “threshold”, is not known. We hypothesized that the critical torque (CT; the asymptote of the torque-duration relationship) would demarcate distinct profiles of central and peripheral fatigue during intermittent isometric quadriceps contractions (3-s contraction, 2-s rest). Nine healthy men performed seven experimental trials to task failure or for up to 60 min, with maximal voluntary contractions (MVCs) performed at the end of each minute. The first five trials were performed to determine CT [∼35–55% MVC, denoted severe 1 (S1) to severe 5 (S5) in ascending order], while the remaining two trials were performed 10 and 20% below the CT (denoted CT-10% and CT-20%). Dynamometer torque and the electromyogram of the right vastus lateralis were sampled continuously. Peripheral and central fatigue was determined from the fall in potentiated doublet torque and voluntary activation, respectively. Above CT, contractions progressed to task failure in ∼3–18 min, at which point the MVC did not differ from the target torque (S1 target, 88.7 ± 4.3 N·m vs. MVC, 89.3 ± 8.8 N·m, P = 0.94). The potentiated doublet fell significantly in all trials, and voluntary activation was reduced in trials S1–S3, but not trials S4 and S5. Below CT, contractions could be sustained for 60 min on 17 of 18 occasions. Both central and peripheral fatigue developed, but there was a substantial reserve in MVC torque at the end of the task. The rate of global and peripheral fatigue development was four to five times greater during S1 than during CT-10% (change in MVC/change in time S1 vs. CT-10%: −7.2 ± 1.4 vs. −1.5 ± 0.4 N·m·min−1). These results demonstrate that CT represents a critical threshold for neuromuscular fatigue development.


Motor Control ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-282
Author(s):  
Rihab Borji ◽  
Firas Zghal ◽  
Nidhal Zarrouk ◽  
Sonia Sahli ◽  
Haithem Rebai

The authors explored neuromuscular fatigue in athletes with intellectual disability (AID) compared with sedentary individuals with intellectual disability (SID) and individuals with typical development. Force, voluntary activation level, potentiated resting twitch, and electromyography signals were assessed during isometric maximal voluntary contractions performed before and immediately after an isometric submaximal exhaustive contraction (15% isometric maximal voluntary contractions) and during recovery period. AID presented shorter time to task failure than SID (p < .05). The three groups presented similar isometric maximal voluntary contraction decline and recovery kinetic. Both groups with intellectual disability presented higher voluntary activation level and root mean square normalized to peak-to-peak M-wave amplitude declines (p < .05) compared with individuals with typical development. These declines were more pronounced in SID (p < .05) than in AID. The AID recovered their initial voluntary activation level later than controls, whereas SID did not. SID presented lower potentiated resting twitch decline compared with AID and controls with faster recovery (p < .05). AID presented attenuated central fatigue and accentuated peripheral fatigue compared with their sedentary counterparts, suggesting a neuromuscular profile close to that of individuals with typical development.


2010 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 1224-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Martin ◽  
Hugo Kerhervé ◽  
Laurent A. Messonnier ◽  
Jean-Claude Banfi ◽  
André Geyssant ◽  
...  

This experiment investigated the fatigue induced by a 24-h running exercise (24TR) and particularly aimed at testing the hypothesis that the central component would be the main mechanism responsible for neuromuscular fatigue. Neuromuscular function evaluation was performed before, every 4 h during, and at the end of the 24TR on 12 experienced ultramarathon runners. It consisted of a determination of the maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) of the knee extensors (KE) and plantar flexors (PF), the maximal voluntary activation (%VA) of the KE and PF, and the maximal compound muscle action potential amplitude (Mmax) on the soleus and vastus lateralis. Tetanic stimulations also were delivered to evaluate the presence of low-frequency fatigue and the KE maximal muscle force production ability. Strength loss occurred throughout the exercise, with large changes observed after 24TR in MVC for both the KE and PF muscles (−40.9 ± 17.0 and −30.3 ± 12.5%, respectively; P < 0.001) together with marked reductions of %VA (−33.0 ± 21.8 and −14.8 ± 18.9%, respectively; P < 0.001). A reduction of Mmax amplitude was observed only on soleus, and no low-frequency fatigue was observed for any muscle group. Finally, KE maximal force production ability was reduced to a moderate extent at the end of the 24TR (−10.2%; P < 0.001), but these alterations were highly variable ( ± 15.7%). These results suggest that central factors are mainly responsible for the large maximal muscle torque reduction after ultraendurance running, especially on the KE muscles. Neural drive reduction may have contributed to the relative preservation of peripheral function and also affected the evolution of the running speed during the 24TR.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0242324
Author(s):  
Jonathan Harnie ◽  
Thomas Cattagni ◽  
Christophe Cornu ◽  
Peter McNair ◽  
Marc Jubeau

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of a single session of prolonged tendon vibration combined with low submaximal isometric contraction on maximal motor performance. Thirty-two young sedentary adults were assigned into two groups that differed based on the knee angle tested: 90° or 150° (180° = full knee extension). Participants performed two fatigue-inducing exercise protocols: one with three 10 min submaximal (10% of maximal voluntary contraction) knee extensor contractions and patellar tendon vibration (80 Hz) another with submaximal knee extensor contractions only. Before and after each fatigue protocol, maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVC), voluntary activation level (assessed by the twitch interpolation technique), peak-to-peak amplitude of maximum compound action potentials of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis (assessed by electromyography with the use of electrical nerve stimulation), peak twitch amplitude and peak doublet force were measured. The knee extensor fatigue was significantly (P<0.05) greater in the 90° knee angle group (-20.6% MVC force, P<0.05) than the 150° knee angle group (-8.3% MVC force, P = 0.062). Both peripheral and central alterations could explain the reduction in MVC force at 90° knee angle. However, tendon vibration added to isometric contraction did not exacerbate the reduction in MVC force. These results clearly demonstrate that acute infrapatellar tendon vibration using a commercial apparatus operating at optimal conditions (i.e. contracted and stretched muscle) does not appear to induce knee extensor neuromuscular fatigue in young sedentary subjects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria M. Nordlund ◽  
Alf Thorstensson ◽  
Andrew G. Cresswell

This study aimed to investigate central and peripheral contributions to fatigue during repeated maximal voluntary isometric plantar flexions (MVCs). Changes in joint torque, level of activation (LOA), resting twitch amplitude (RT), electromyographic signals (EMG), and presynaptic inhibition of Ia afferents were investigated during 9 bouts of 10 MVCs. MVCs lasted for 2 s and were separated by 1 s. The interval between bouts was 10 s. Electrical stimulation was applied to the tibial nerve; at rest to evoke RTs, M waves, and two (1.5-s interval) H reflexes; with the soleus EMG at 30% of that during MVC to evoke M waves and two H reflexes; and during MVCs to measure LOA. Over the nine bouts, LOA decreased by 12.6% and RT by 16.2%. EMG root mean square during MVCs remained unchanged for the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles, but it decreased for medial gastrocnemius. Peripheral fatigue (decrease in RT) was positively correlated to LOA, whereas central fatigue (decrease in LOA) was not. Depression of both H reflexes suggests that presynaptic inhibition after the first bout was partly induced by homosynaptic postactivation depression of the Ia terminal. The H-reflex-to-M-wave ratio increased with fatigue in both passive and active states, with no change in the ratio of the second H reflex to the first, thereby indicating a decrease of presynaptic inhibition during fatigue. The results indicate that both central and peripheral mechanisms contributed to the fatigue observed during repeated MVCs and that the development of peripheral fatigue was influenced by the level of voluntary activation and initial plantar flexor torque.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10388
Author(s):  
Miloš Kalc ◽  
Ramona Ritzmann ◽  
Vojko Strojnik

Background Whole body vibrations have been used as an exercise modality or as a tool to study neuromuscular integration. There is increasing evidence that longer WBV exposures (up to 10 minutes) induce an acute impairment in neuromuscular function. However, the magnitude and origin of WBV induced fatigue is poorly understood. Purpose The study aimed to investigate the magnitude and origin of neuromuscular fatigue induced by half-squat long-exposure whole-body vibration intervention (WBV) with sets of different duration and compare it to non-vibration (SHAM) conditions. Methods Ten young, recreationally trained adults participated in six fatiguing trials, each consisting of maintaining a squatting position for several sets of the duration of 30, 60 or 180 seconds. The static squatting was superimposed with vibrations (WBV30, WBV60, WBV180) or without vibrations (SHAM30, SHAM60, SHAM180) for a total exercise exposure of 9-minutes in each trial. Maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), level of voluntary activation (%VA), low- (T20) and high-frequency (T100) doublets, low-to-high-frequency fatigue ratio (T20/100) and single twitch peak torque (TWPT) were assessed before, immediately after, then 15 and 30 minutes after each fatiguing protocol. Result Inferential statistics using RM ANOVA and post hoc tests revealed statistically significant declines from baseline values in MVC, T20, T100, T20/100 and TWPT in all trials, but not in %VA. No significant differences were found between WBV and SHAM conditions. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the origin of fatigue induced by WBV is not significantly different compared to control conditions without vibrations. The lack of significant differences in %VA and the significant decline in other assessed parameters suggest that fatiguing protocols used in this study induced peripheral fatigue of a similar magnitude in all trials.


Author(s):  
Ryan Norbury ◽  
Samuel A. Smith ◽  
Mark Burnley ◽  
Megan Judge ◽  
Alexis R. Mauger

Abstract Purpose Muscle pain can impair exercise performance but the mechanisms for this are unknown. This study examined the effects of muscle pain on neuromuscular fatigue during an endurance task. Methods On separate visits, twelve participants completed an isometric time-to-task failure (TTF) exercise of the right knee extensors at ~ 20% of maximum force following an intramuscular injection of isotonic saline (CTRL) or hypertonic saline (HYP) into the vastus lateralis. Measures of neuromuscular fatigue were taken before, during and after the TTF using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and peripheral nerve stimulation. Results The mean pain intensity was 57 ± 10 in HYP compared to 38 ± 18 in CTRL (P < 0.001). TTF was reduced in HYP (4.36 ± 0.88 min) compared to CTRL (5.20 ± 0.39 min) (P = 0.003). Maximum voluntary force was 12% lower at minute 1 (P = 0.003) and 11% lower at minute 2 in HYP (P = 0.013) compared to CTRL. Voluntary activation was 4% lower at minute 1 in HYP compared to CTRL (P = 0.006) but not at any other time point (all P > 0.05). The TMS silent period was 9% longer at 100 s during the TTF in HYP compared to CTRL (P = 0.026). Conclusion Muscle pain reduces exercise performance through the excacerbation of neuromuscular fatigue that is central in origin. This appears to be from inhibitory feedback from group III/IV nociceptors which acts to reduce central motor output.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Gelabert-Rebato ◽  
Marcos Martin-Rincon ◽  
Victor Galvan-Alvarez ◽  
Angel Gallego-Selles ◽  
Miriam Martinez-Canton ◽  
...  

The mango leaf extract rich in mangiferin Zynamite® improves exercise performance when combined with luteolin or quercetin ingested at least 48 h prior to exercise. To determine whether a single dose of Zynamite® administered 1 h before exercise increases repeated-sprint performance, 20 men and 20 women who were physically active were randomly assigned to three treatments following a double-blind cross-over counterbalanced design. Treatment A, 140 mg of Zynamite®, 140 mg of quercetin, 147.7 mg of maltodextrin, and 420 mg of sunflower lecithin; Treatment B, 140 mg of Zynamite®, 140 mg of quercetin, and 2126 mg of maltodextrin and Treatment C, 2548 mg of maltodextrin (placebo). Subjects performed three Wingate tests interspaced by 4 min and a final 15 s sprint after ischemia. Treatments A and B improved peak power output during the first three Wingates by 2.8% and 3.8%, respectively (treatment x sprint interaction, p = 0.01). Vastus Lateralis oxygenation (NIRS) was reduced, indicating higher O2 extraction (treatment × sprint interaction, p = 0.01). Improved O2 extraction was observed in the sprints after ischemia (p = 0.008; placebo vs. mean of treatments A and B). Blood lactate concentration was 5.9% lower after the ingestion of Zynamite® with quercetin in men (treatment by sex interaction, p = 0.049). There was a higher Vastus Lateralis O2 extraction during 60 s ischemia with polyphenols (treatment effect, p = 0.03), due to the greater muscle VO2 in men (p = 0.001). In conclusion, a single dose of Zynamite® combined with quercetin one hour before exercise improves repeated-sprint performance and muscle O2 extraction and mitochondrial O2. consumption during ischemia. No advantage was obtained from the addition of phospholipids.


2004 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 1767-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Sandiford ◽  
H. J. Green ◽  
T. A. Duhamel ◽  
J. G. Perco ◽  
J. D. Schertzer ◽  
...  

This study investigated the effects of prolonged exercise performed in normoxia (N) and hypoxia (H) on neuromuscular fatigue, membrane excitability, and Na+-K+-ATPase activity in working muscle. Ten untrained volunteers [peak oxygen consumption (VV̇o2 peak) = 42.1 ± 2.8 (SE) ml·kg-1·min-1] performed 90 min of cycling during N (inspired oxygen fraction = 0.21) and during H (inspired oxygen fraction = 0.14) at ∼50% of normoxic VV̇o2 peak. During N, 3- O-methylfluorescein phosphatase activity (nmol·mg protein-1·h-1) in vastus lateralis, used as a measure of Na+-K+-ATPase activity, decreased ( P < 0.05) by 21% at 30 min of exercise compared with rest (101 ± 53 vs. 79.6 ± 4.3) with no further reductions observed at 90 min (72.8 ± 8.0). During H, similar reductions ( P < 0.05) were observed during the first 30 min (90.8 ± 5.3 vs. 79.0 ± 6.3) followed by further reductions ( P < 0.05) at 90 min (50.5 ± 3.9). Exercise in N resulted in reductions ( P < 0.05) in both quadriceps maximal voluntary contractile force (MVC; 633 ± 50 vs. 477 ± 67 N) and force at low frequencies of stimulation, namely 10 Hz (142 ± 16 vs. 86.7 ± 10 N) and 20 Hz (283 ± 32 vs. 236 ± 31 N). No changes were observed in the amplitude, duration, and area of the muscle compound action potential (M wave). Exercise in H was without additional effect in altering MVC, low-frequency force, and M-wave properties. It is concluded that, although exercise in H resulted in a greater inactivation of Na+-K+-ATPase activity compared with N, neuromuscular fatigue and membrane excitability are not differentially altered.


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