Similar effects of cooling and fatigue on eccentric and concentric force-velocity relationships in human muscle

C. J. De Ruiter*, A. De Haan

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of muscle temperature and fatigue during stretch (eccentric) and shortening (concentric) contractions of the maximally electrically activated human adductor pollicis muscle. After immersion of the lower arm in water baths of four different temperatures, the calculated muscle temperatures were 36.8, 31.6, 26.6, and 22.3°C. Normalized (isometric force = 100%) eccentric force increased with stretch velocity to maximal values of 136.4 ± 1.6 and 162.1 ± 2.0% at 36.8 and 22.3°C, respectively. After repetitive ischemic concentric contractions, fatigue was less at the lower temperatures, and at all temperatures the loss of eccentric force was smaller than the loss of isometric and concentric force. Consequently, normalized eccentric forces increased during fatigue to 159.7 ± 4.6 and 185.7 ± 7.3% at 36.8 and 22.3°C, respectively. Maximal normalized eccentric force increased exponentially (r2 = 0.95) when Vmax was reduced by cooling and/or fatiguing contractions. This may indicate that a reduction in cross-bridge cycling rate could underlie the significant increases in normalized eccentric force found with cooling and fatigue.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)2109-2116
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of Applied Physiology (1985)
    Volume90
    Issue number6
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2001

    Keywords

    • Dynamic contractions
    • Power

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