Thread by @nick_krontiris

This one suggests that the neuromuscular mechanisms of exercise-induced muscle fatigue are predominantly central (i.e., neural) factors.

- Healthy and physically active men performed two intermittent isometric handgrip exercise protocols to failure, 72 hours apart, combined with either blood flow restriction or without.

- Electromechanical delay, the rate of force development and time to peak force were used to investigate whether the source of performance decline in those exercise protocols performed to failure was central or peripheral.

In plain english, central is the brain and spinal cord, therefore the capacity of the central nervous system to activate muscles, while peripheral is about processes distal to the neuromuscular junction, therefore we're talking about impaired muscle function per se.

Electromechanical delay corresponds to the time lag between the beginning of muscle electrical activity and the beginning of muscle force production.

The rate of force development is how fast an individual can develop force.

Time to peak force is the elapsed time between the beginning of force production and the maximum force obtained during a resisted muscle contraction.

- Impairments in muscle performance (peak force and rate of force development), with no difference between conditions was observed.

- Electromechanical delay was not altered after exercise in either condition.

- On the contrary, time to peak force increased, but only after exercise without blood flow restriction.

- Taken together, these findings suggest the predominance of fatigue-related central (i.e., neural) factors, in the applied exercise protocol, at least.

Effects of Blood Flow Restricted Exercise on Electromechanical Delay and Time to Peak Force after Task Failure: A Randomized Crossover Trial (open access)

mdpi.com/2813-0413/1/3/…

#exercise #GymLife #GymTime #muscle #strength #lift #GetStrong #cardio #hiit