Summary
Nine healthy men, aged between 25 and 35 years, performed sustained maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) of foot plantar, foot dorsal, and finger flexor muscles. Contractions lasted 10 min and were followed by short test contractions at 30% MVC during recovery. Two positions of the working extremity high or low were established by different body postures (supine or sitting). Under these conditions, studies of force, integrated electromyogram (iEMG), blood pressure, and heart rate showed firstly that force decreased throughout the first few minutes of maximal contraction but reached a near steady-state value after 5 to 6 min. Secondly, force decay and steady-state level depended on muscle group and body position. When sitting (low leg), muscles with a high incidence of slow twitch fibres (plantar flexors) showed a slower force decay and a higher relative steady-state force than fast dorsal flexor muscles. When supine (high leg), plantar and dorsal flexor muscles reached about the same low level of relative steady-state force. Changes in iEMG, blood pressure, and heart rate did not differ in the two positions. Thirdly, during recovery, plantar flexor muscles showed higher iEMG values as well as higher values of blood pressure and heart rate when supine than when sitting. Recovery of dorsal flexor muscles was little affected by body posture. Fourthly, force development and recovery of predominantly fast finger flexor muscles were almost independent of arm position. It was concluded that muscle fibre composition was the main factor in determining endurance capacity. However, endurance was influenced by changes in the hydrostatic blood pressure component. Because of their strong dependence on blood supply, slow plantar flexor muscles may have been more sensitive to hydrostatically induced changes of blood flow than fast dorsal and finger flexor muscles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Åstrand I, Guahary A, Wahren J (1968) Circulatory responses to arm exercise with different arm positions. J Appl Physiol 25:528–532
Belanger AY, McComas AJ (1981) Extent of motor unit activation during effort. J Appl Physiol 51:1131–1135
Belanger AY, McComas AJ, Elder GBC (1983) Physiological properties of two antagonistic human muscle groups. Eur J Appl Physiol 51:381–393
Bonde-Petersen F, Mork A, Nielsen E (1975) Local muscle blood flow and sustained contractions of human arm and back muscles. Eur J Appl Physiol 34:43–50
Dul J, Townsed MA, Shiavi R, Johnson GE (1984) Muscular synergism — I and II. On criteria for load sharing between synergistic muscles. J Biomech 17:663–684
Eiken O (1987) Responses to dynamic leg exercise in man as influenced by changes in muscle perfusion pressure. Acta Physiol Scand [Suppl 566] 131:1–37
Folkow B, Haglund U, Jodal M, Lundgren O (1971) Blood flow in the calf muscle of man during heavy rhythmic exercise. Acta Physiol Scand 81:157–163
Fukunaga T, Hyodo K, Ryushi T, Matsuo A, Yata H, Kondo M (1983) The effect of arm elevation on change in muscle work capacity with training. In: Matsui G, Kobayashi K (eds) Biomechanics VIII B. International series on biomechanics 4 B. Human Kinetics. Champaign, Ill., pp 959–962
Funderburk CF, Hipskind SG, Welton CR, Lind AR (1974) Development of and recovery from fatigue induced by static effort at various tensions. J Appl Physiol 37:392–396
Gollnick PD, Armstrong RB, Saubert CW, Piehl K, Saltin B (1972) Enzyme activity and fiber composition in skeletal muscle of trained and untrained men. J Appl Physiol 33:312–319
Hobbs SF, McCloskey DI (1987) Effects of blood pressure on force production in cat and human muscle. J Appl Physiol 63:834–839
Hultén B, Thorstensson A, Sjødin B, Karlsson J (1975) Relationship between isometric endurance and fibre types in human leg muscles. Acta Physiol Scand 93:135–138
Johnson MA, Polgar J, Weightman D, Appleton D (1973) Data on the distribution of fibre types in thirty-six human muscles. An autopsy study. J Neurol Sci 18:111–129
Juel C (1988) Muscle action potential propagation velocity changes during activity. Muscle Nerve 11:714–719
Kahn JF, Monod H (1984) A study of fatigue during repetitive static work performed in two different segmental positions. Eur J Appl Physiol 53:169–174
Kahn JF, Huart F, Kapitaniak B, Monod H (1986) Effect of arm position on cardiovascular responses during isometric handgrips. Eur J Appl Physiol 55:88–92
Kilbom A, Persson J (1981) Circulatory response to static muscle contraction in three different muscle groups. Clin Physiol 1:215–225
Kössler F, Lange F, Caffier G, Kuchler G (1991) External potassium and action potential propagation in rat fast and slow twitch muscles. Gen Physiol Biophys 10:485–498
Kuchler G (1983) Motorik — Steuerung der Muskeltätigkeit and begleitende Prozesse. Thieme, Leipzig
Lind AR, McNicol GW, Donald KW (1966) Circulatory adjustment to sustained (static) muscular activity. In: Evang K, Anderson KL (eds) Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, pp 38–63
Maton B, Bouisset S (1977) The distribution of activity among the muscles of single group during isometric contraction. Eur J Appl Physiol 37:101–109
Molbech S, Johansen SH (1973) Endurance time in slow and fast contracting muscle groups. Work Environ Health 10:62–64
Mucke R (1976) Ein Spannungs-Frequenz-Umsetzer zur Auswertung physiologischer und physikalischer Meßgrößen. Z Gesamte Hyg 24:837–838
Rehfeldt H, Caffier G, Kramer H, Küchler G (1989) Force, endurance time, and cardiovascular responses in voluntary isometric contractions of different muscle groups. Biomed Biochim Acta 48:S509-S514
Rohmert W (1962) Untersuchungen über Muskelermüdung und Arbeitsgestaltung. Beuth, Berlin
Sirin AV, Patla AE (1987) Myoelectric changes in the triceps surae muscle under sustained contractions. Eur J Appl Physiol 56:238–244
Sjogaard G, Savard G, Juel C (1988) Muscle blood flow during isometric activity and its relation to muscle fatigue. Eur J Appl Physiol 57:327–335
Thorstensson A, Karlsson J (1976) Fatiguability and fibre composition of human skeletal muscle. Acta Physiol Scand 98:318–322
Ulmer H-V, Knieriemen W, Warlo T, Zech B (1989) Interindividual variability of isometric endurance with regard to the endurance performance limit for static work. Biomed Biochim Acta 48:S504–S508
Wahren J (1966) Quantitative aspects of blood flow and oxygen uptake in the human forearm during rhythmic exercise. Acta Physiol Scand [Suppl 269] 67:1–93
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Caffier, G., Rehfeldt, H., Kramer, H. et al. Fatigue during sustained maximal voluntary contraction of different muscles in humans: dependence on fibre type and body posture. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 64, 237–243 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00626286
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00626286