 |
| Research article summary (published 30 Jul 2002): |
|
Free Full Text! See links below |
Voluntary muscle activation varies with age and muscle group.
Full Abstract
The consistency and the number of attempts required to achieve maximal voluntary muscle activation have not been documented and compared between young and old adults. Furthermore, few studies have contrasted activation between functional pairs of muscle groups, and no study has tested upper limb muscles. The purpose of this study was to measure and compare voluntary muscle activation of the elbow flexors and extensors in young and old men over two separate test sessions. With the method of twitch interpolation to measure activation, six young (24 +/- 1 yr) and six old (83 +/- 4 yr) men performed five maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) during each session for each muscle group. Elbow flexion and extension MVC was less (43 and 47%, respectively) in the old men, yet the best maximal voluntary muscle activation was similar between age groups. However, when all 10 attempts at MVC were compared, the mean activation scores were slightly less (approximately 5%) in the elbow extensors but were approximately 11% less (P < 0.001) in the elbow flexors of old men, compared with young men. During the second session, there was a significant improvement of 13% (P < 0.005) in mean elbow flexor activation in the old men. There were no session differences for either muscle group for the young men. The results indicate that, for aged men, elbow flexor maximal activation is achieved less frequently compared with elbow extensors, and thus mean activation for elbow flexors is less than for elbow extensors. However, if sufficient attempts are provided, the best effort for the old men is not different from that of the young men for either muscle group.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Jakobi, Jennifer M (JM); Rice, Charles L (CL);
Affiliation: Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0354, USA. jennifer.jakobi@colorado.edu
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) (J Appl Physiol), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-Aug; vol 93 (issue 2) : pp 457-62
Dates: Created 2002/07/22; Completed 2003/02/12; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12133850, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
|
|
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.