Spectral properties of muscle activation during incremental cycling test
Journal Title: Journal of Science and Cycling - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 1
Abstract
It is uncertain whether fatigue and workload would affect muscle recruitment during cycling. To infer on changes in priority for recruitment of motor units, we assessed the combined effects of fatigue and workload during an incremental cycling test to exhaustion on frequency components of lower limbs muscle activation. Competitive cyclists performed an incremental maximal cycling test while muscle activations were recorded from the right and left vastus lateralis, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius medialis. Muscle activation signals were assessed using frequency band analyses and decomposed into overall, high and low frequency bands. Combined effects from workload/fatigue were assessed using t tests and Cohen’s effect sizes (ES). There were increases in the overall muscle activation due to increased workload/fatigue for biceps femoris (40% vs. 90%, p<0.01 and ES = 1.85) and vastus lateralis (40% vs. 70%, p=0.01 and ES = 0.96, and 40% vs. 90%, p<0.01 and ES = 2.03, and 70% vs. 90%, p<0.01 and ES = 0.96), but not for gastrocnemius medialis. There was also greater contribution from low frequency component for biceps femoris (40% vs. 90%, p = 0.01 and ES = 1.12). Similar workload/fatigue effects have been observed between lower limbs. In conclusion, incremental cycling test lead to an increase in activation of main knee joint flexors and extensors but not in plantar flexors during cycling. Biceps femoris changes its recruitment profile due to increases in low frequency content.
Authors and Affiliations
Ignacio Priego-Quesada| Research Group in Sport Biomechanics (GIBD), Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.Biophysics and Medical physics group, Department of Physiology. Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.Applied Neuromechanics Research Group, Laboratory of Neuromechanics, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, RS, Brasil., Rodrigo R Bini| Laboratório de Pesquisas em Desempenho Humano, Centro de Ciências da Saúde e do Esporte -(CEFID), Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brasil., Fernando Diefenthaeler| Laboratório de Pesquisas em Desempenho Humano, Centro de Ciências da Saúde e do Esporte -(CEFID), Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brasil., Felipe P Carpes| Applied Neuromechanics Research Group, Laboratory of Neuromechanics, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, RS, Brasil.
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP2901
- DOI -
- Views 381
- Downloads 21
Neuromuscular, metabolic and ventilatory fatigue threshold from an incremental cycling test using 1-min exercise periods
Extensive research has been directed towards the identification of the threshold that demarcates fatiguing from non-fatiguing exercise during an incremental workout on a cycle ergometer. As the exercise intensity increas...
Separating muscular and non-muscular forces at the pedal
Introduction: the availability of equipment for pedal force measurement is growing rapidly. However, not the measured pedal force but only its muscular part represents the effort generated by the athlete. To optimize cyc...
Quantification of vibrations during mountain biking
Background: During cross-country mountain biking, riders are subjected to vibrations due to the terrain, which must be damped before reaching the central nervous system. Damping vibrations requires work, which may help...
The impact of mental fatigue on a preloaded cycling-time trial in the heat
Mental fatigue is a change in psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity and has been observed to decrease whole-body endurance performance [1-5]. Recently a decreased resting-stat...
Modelling of critical power from road data
Background: Performance tests are an integral part of evaluating competitive cyclists. Despite all technological and physiological advances, limited research has been performed addressing the translation of standardized,...