The Effect of Heating and Cooling on Time Course of Voluntary and Electrically Induced Muscle Force Variation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of heating and cooling on time course of voluntary and electrically induced muscle force variation. Material and Methods. Ten volunteers performed 50 maximal voluntary and electrically induced contractions of the knee extensors at an angle of 120 degrees under the control conditions and after passive lower body heating and cooling in the control, heating, and cooling experiments. Peak torque, torque variation, and half-relaxation time were assessed during the exercise. Results. Passive lower body heating increased muscle and core temperatures, while cooling lowered muscle temperature, but did not affect core temperature. We observed significantly lower muscle fatigue during voluntary contraction compared with electrically induced contractions. Body heating (opposite to cooling) increased involuntarily induced muscle force, but caused greater electrically induced muscle fatigue. In the middle of the exercise, the coefficient of correlation for electrically induced muscle torque decreased significantly as compared with the beginning of the exercise, while during maximal voluntary contractions, this relation for torque remained significant until the end of the exercise. Conclusion. It was shown that time course of voluntary contraction was more stable than in electrically induced contractions.

Pre-Exercise Rehydration Attenuates Central Fatigability during 2-Min Maximum Voluntary Contraction in Hyperthermia

“…In general, greater voluntary activation of exercising muscles during continuous contractions may lead to greater metabolite accumulation and ATP depletion, slowed Ca 2+ kinetics, a reduction in actomyosin sensitivity to Ca 2+ , and impaired cross-bridge cycling [17]. As a result, mainly because of hyperthermia-induced changes in the periphery, such as an increase in the speed of muscle contraction and relaxation [2,57], greater voluntary activation in HT-RH stressed the muscle and decreased electrically (TT-100 Hz) induced torque production to a greater extent compared with HT-D during the 2-min MVC.…”

The Effect of Three Different Strategies Based on Motor Task Performance on Neuromuscular Fatigue in Healthy Men and Men with Multiple Sclerosis

“…Increased muscle temperature evokes a decrease in involuntary muscle force [27]. In addition, during the time of recovery, an increase in the P20/P100 factor was observed in both groups, indicating a muscle potentiation mechanism before evidential fatigue [4].…”

“…T mu was evaluated using a needle microprobe (MKA; Ellab, Hvidovre, Denmark) inserted 3 cm under the skin and covering the vastus lateralis muscle of the right leg [27]. Skin preparation prior to each T mu measurement involved skin shaving and disinfection with a cotton–wool tampon soaked in isopropyl alcohol before and after insertion.…”

Moderate muscle cooling induced by single and intermittent/prolonged cold-water immersions differently affects muscle contractile function in young males

“…Exposure to CWI induces acute physiological adjustments, including increased whole-body metabolic heat production ( Castellani et al, 1998 ), reduced muscle metabolic activity ( Ihsan et al, 2013 ), reduced femoral artery blood flow and increased cutaneous vasoconstriction ( Mawhinney et al, 2017 ), reduced muscle and core temperatures ( Brazaitis et al, 2014b ), and decreased nerve conduction velocity ( Algafly and George, 2007 ). These adjustments are influenced by the duration of exposure, water temperature, and the type of immersion (e.g., single, or intermittent) ( Brazaitis et al, 2011 ; Brazaitis et al, 2014b ; Castellani and Young, 2016 ).…”

“…Severe muscle cooling also elicits a shift towards a slower muscle contractile profile ( Davies et al, 1982 ; de Ruiter et al, 1999 ), while it could limit force decline during repeated contractions induced by electrical stimulation ( Davies et al, 1982 ). In contrast, moderate muscle cooling, that can be defined as a reduced temperature up to 5°C in the deep portion of the muscle, does not ( Petrofsky and Phillips, 1986 ) or only slightly ( Asmussen et al, 1976 ; Bergh and Ekblom, 1979 ; Brazaitis et al, 2011 ) reduces MVIC force. Some evidence indicates that it reduces force during dynamic voluntary contractions, at least of the knee extensors ( Bergh and Ekblom, 1979 ), and force response to 50 Hz electrical stimulations ( Brazaitis et al, 2011 ).…”