Original scientific paper

Twitch contractile properties of quadriceps muscle in athletes

Aivaras Ratkevičius ; Laboratory of Human Motorics, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Lithuanian Institute of Physical Education, Kaunas, Litva
Albertas Skurvydas ; Laboratory of Human Motorics, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Lithuanian Institute of Physical Education, Kaunas, Litva
Gediminas Mamkus ; Laboratory of Human Motorics, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Lithuanian Institute of Physical Education, Kaunas, Litva

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate muscle twitch contractile properties of experienced sprint runners (SR), academic rowers (AR) and road cyclists (RC) in comparison to the age-matched control (CO). Knee extension torque was recorded during electrical stimulation of quadriceps group with single stimuli before and after 10-s maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Before MVC, time to peak twitch torque (tp) was longer in AR (87.74 8.6 ms) compared to SR (80.4+ 9.2 ms, P< 0.05) and RC (76.0 + 9.7 ms, P< 0.01), while tp of RC was shorter compared to CO (84.7 + 8.5, P<0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between tp and twitch potentiation (relative increase of maximal torque) after 10-s MVC in CO (r = -0.79; P< 0.001), but not in sportsmen groups. It is concluded that twitch contractile properties of athletes are influenced by their sports specialization.

Keywords

contraction, muscle twitch, quadriceps

Hrčak ID:

256288

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/256288

Publication date:

22.4.1997.

Article data in other languages: croatian

Visits: 336 *