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To study the effects of exercise training with eccentric muscle contractions on body temperatures, energy cost, and performance capacity, six human subjects were tested before and after a 5-week training program of eccentric exercise. Exercise was performed as leg cycling on a motor-driven ergometer at power levels ranging 252-316 W. Training consisted of three sessions/week for 1 h/session. As a result of the training, VO2, fH, and mean skin temperature were lowered for each subject at the same absolute exercise intensities. Ability to continue exercise as indicated by endurance time improved with training. Before training, four subjects terminated exercise after 30 min because of localized leg exhaustion and one subject could not continue longer than 45 min. After training, all six subjects completed 45 min of the exercise test without difficulty. Esophageal and muscle temperatures evidenced no changes as a result of training. It was concluded that the inability of subjects to perform eccentric exercise in the untrained state was not related to muscle temperature.

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Maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) were performed by five male subjects as repeated knee extensions separated by 13-s rest periods for the purposes of studying performance capability, physiologic responses, and recruitment patterns among fast-twitch (FT) and slow-twitch (ST) extrafusal muscle fibers for this type of exercise. Exercise was performed on an isokinetic ergometer (Cybex II) as 4 MVC per min for 1 h, each contraction lasting 2 s and resulting in knee extension at a velocity of 18 degrees x s-1 from 90 forward to 57. Biopsies were taken from the m. vastus lateralis before, at the midpoint, and at the end of the 60-min period of exercise and analyzed for ATP, CP, lactate, and glycogen. Fiber type was determined by staining sections for myofibrillar ATPase and fiber glycogen content by PAS stain. Ability to produce force (torque) declined form an average of 250 Nm during the first minute to 200 Nm during the last minute of exercise. Oxygen uptake and heart rate were relatively constant for each subject and averaged 0.94 l x min-1 and 110 beat x min-1 throughout exercise. Muscle values in mmol x kg-1 at rest, at midpoint, and at end of exercise were for ATP 5.3, 5.4, and 4.1; for CP 19.4, 15.7, and 12.1; and for lactate 1.7, 3.9, and 4.5, respectively. It was estimated that approximately one third of the energy requirement for exercise was obtained from the endogenous muscle glycogen. Glycogen depletion patterns indicated the involvement of both FT and ST fibers in this type of exercise.

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