AUTHOR=Norberto Matheus Silva , de Arruda Tarine Botta , Papoti Marcelo TITLE=A New Approach to Evaluate Neuromuscular Fatigue of Extensor Elbow Muscles JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.553296 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2020.553296 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=
Neuromuscular fatigue evaluation is widely performed on different muscles through the conventional protocol using maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) with electrical stimuli in the analyzed muscle. In an attempt to use this protocol on elbow extensor musculature, previous studies and pilot studies showed co-contraction effects from antagonist musculature during muscular stimulations. The aim of this study was to propose a new neuromuscular fatigue protocol evaluation on elbow extensor musculature. Twenty participants preformed exercises to induce central (CenFat) and peripheral fatigue (PerFat). Neuromuscular fatigue was evaluated on knee extensor muscles by a conventional protocol that provides Twitch Superimposed (TSK) and Twitch Potentiated (TPK), central and peripheral parameters respectively. For elbow extensor muscles, the protocol used sustained submaximal contraction at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% of MVC. The neuromuscular fatigue in upper limbs was identified by Twitch Potentiated (TPE) and multiple Twitch Superimposed (TSE) parameters. Using the relationship between MVC (%) and evoked force, the proposed protocol used several TSE to provide slope, y-intercept and