Study of muscle fatigue in isokinetic exercise with estimated conduction velocity and traditional electromyographic indicators

INTRODUCTION: In the study of human biomechanics, it is often desirable to evaluate fatigue in the muscles that are involved in performing a particular task. Identifying the phenomena responsible for this condition is a problem that in most cases is complex and requires appropriate research mechanisms. Isokinetic dynamometry (ID) and surface electromyography (SEMG) are two techniques widely used in studies on strength and muscle fatigue. Their effectiveness is conditioned upon a good understanding of their limitations and the adoption of procedures to fully exploit the potential of each one. The main goal of the present study is to verify whether the electromyographic parameters, especially the conduction velocity (CV), are sensitive to the fatigue instauration process within sets of maximal isokinetic contractions. CV is a basic physiological parameter directly related to muscle activity and still little explored in experiments combining ID and SEMG. METHODS: Instrumentation architecture that combines ID and SEMG was used to estimate electromyographic and biomechanical parameters in protocols of maximum intensity isokinetic knee extension exercises. This architecture allows for limiting the parameter estimates to a specific region of isokinetic exercise, called the isokinetic load range (ILR), where one can consider that the angular velocity is constant and the SEMG signals are cyclo-stationary. Electromyographic signals were acquired using an array of electrodes. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that CV and the other SEMG parameters, including amplitude and frequency descriptors, are sensitive to detect a fatigue process only in protocols that restrict the analysis to ILR and that also bring the subject to a state of fatigue quickly.

Fadiga muscular entre séries de exercícios isocinéticos em mulheres jovens / Muscle fatigue between isokinetic exercises sets in young women

OBJETIVO: Avaliar o efeito de dois Intervalos de Recuperação (IR) no pico de torque (PT) e no trabalho total (TT) isocinético em mulheres jovens. MÉTODOS: 17 mulheres, destreinadas, (27,2 ± 4,1 anos; 56,8 ± 6,9 kg; 162,6 ± 7,0 cm) realizaram três séries de 10 extensões isocinéticas do joelho a 60° e 180°/s, com um e dois minutos de IR. A análise estatística foi a ANOVA dois x três [IR (um e dois minutos) x série (1ª, 2ª e 3ª)] com α < 0.05. RESULTADOS: Um minuto de IR não foi suficiente para manter o PT e o TT ao longo das séries (p<0,05) a 60º (redução de 15,7% no PT e 19,8% no TT) e 180º/s (redução de 3,6% no PT e de 5,6% no TT). Dois minutos foram suficientes apenas a 180º/s. Contudo, a 60°/s, dois minutos de IR possibilitou um maior PT na segunda e na terceira série em relação a um minuto (p<0,05). CONCLUSÃO: Dois minutos são suficientes para manutenção do PT em um protocolo de treinamento isocinético a 180º/s, mas não a 60º/s em mulheres jovens.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of two rest interval (RI) on isokinetic Peak Torque (PT) and total work (TW) produced by young women. METHODS: 17 untrained women (27.2 ± 4.1 yrs; 56.8 ± 6.9 kg; 162.6 ± 7.0 cm) performed three sets of 10 unilateral isokinetic knee extension repetitions at 60° and 180°/s with one and two minutes of RI. Statistical evaluation was performed using a two x three ANOVA [RI (one and two minutes) x set (1st, 2nd, 3rd)] with α < 0.05. RESULTS: One minute was not enough to keep PT and TW between sets (p<0.05) at 60º (reduction of 15.7% in PT and 19.8% in TW) and 180º/s (reduction of 3.6% in PT and 5.6% in TT). Two minutes was enough only at 180º/s. However, two minutes of RI was greater (p<0.05) than one minutes at 60°/s for PT during the 2nd and 3rd sets. CONCLUSION: Two minutes is sufficient to keep PT within typical isokinetic resistance training protocols at 180º/s, but not at 60º/s in young women.