Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults
Neuromuscular fatigue could negatively affect postural balance, but its effects on dynamic postural regulation are still debated. This study aimed to investigate whether a fatigue protocol on calf muscle could affect muscle activation strategies and dynamic balance performance. Seventeen male adults...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Physiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.799565/full |
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| author | Giuseppe Marcolin Marta Cogliati Alessandro Cudicio Francesco Negro Riccardo Tonin Claudio Orizio Antonio Paoli |
| author_facet | Giuseppe Marcolin Marta Cogliati Alessandro Cudicio Francesco Negro Riccardo Tonin Claudio Orizio Antonio Paoli |
| author_sort | Giuseppe Marcolin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Neuromuscular fatigue could negatively affect postural balance, but its effects on dynamic postural regulation are still debated. This study aimed to investigate whether a fatigue protocol on calf muscle could affect muscle activation strategies and dynamic balance performance. Seventeen male adults (age 24.1 ± 4.6 years; height 183.9 ± 7.2 cm; weight 80.2 ± 7.2 kg) volunteered in the study. They performed a dynamic test on an instrumented platform, which provided anterior-posterior oscillations on the sagittal plane, before and after a localized fatigue protocol. High-density surface electromyographical (EMG) signals were recorded bilaterally from the soleus and the medial gastrocnemius muscles. The fatigue protocol, consisting of two quasi-isometric tiptoe standing exercise to failure with a fixed load, did not affect the global dynamic balance performance. Conversely, the frequency value corresponding to 95% of the total power spectrum density of the angular displacement signal increased after fatigue (from 1.03 ± 0.42 to 1.31 ± 0.42 Hz; p < 0.05). The EMG analysis showed a significant difference in the PRE/POST fatigue ratio of the root-mean-square (RMS) between the soleus and the gastrocnemius medialis muscles. No differences were detected for the coefficient of variation and the barycenter coordinates of the RMS EMG values between muscles and sides. The variations in the frequency content of the angular displacement and EMG activity across muscles may be related to an increase in the calf muscles stiffness after fatigue. The role of neuromechanical calf muscle properties seems to be relevant in maintaining the dynamic postural performance after a quasi-isometric fatigue protocol until failure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:07:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bb8d44381a86431aa700c367ad1fd725 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-042X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:07:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Physiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-bb8d44381a86431aa700c367ad1fd7252022-12-22T04:10:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2022-01-011310.3389/fphys.2022.799565799565Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young AdultsGiuseppe Marcolin0Marta Cogliati1Alessandro Cudicio2Francesco Negro3Riccardo Tonin4Claudio Orizio5Antonio Paoli6Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, ItalySchool of Human Movement Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyNeuromuscular fatigue could negatively affect postural balance, but its effects on dynamic postural regulation are still debated. This study aimed to investigate whether a fatigue protocol on calf muscle could affect muscle activation strategies and dynamic balance performance. Seventeen male adults (age 24.1 ± 4.6 years; height 183.9 ± 7.2 cm; weight 80.2 ± 7.2 kg) volunteered in the study. They performed a dynamic test on an instrumented platform, which provided anterior-posterior oscillations on the sagittal plane, before and after a localized fatigue protocol. High-density surface electromyographical (EMG) signals were recorded bilaterally from the soleus and the medial gastrocnemius muscles. The fatigue protocol, consisting of two quasi-isometric tiptoe standing exercise to failure with a fixed load, did not affect the global dynamic balance performance. Conversely, the frequency value corresponding to 95% of the total power spectrum density of the angular displacement signal increased after fatigue (from 1.03 ± 0.42 to 1.31 ± 0.42 Hz; p < 0.05). The EMG analysis showed a significant difference in the PRE/POST fatigue ratio of the root-mean-square (RMS) between the soleus and the gastrocnemius medialis muscles. No differences were detected for the coefficient of variation and the barycenter coordinates of the RMS EMG values between muscles and sides. The variations in the frequency content of the angular displacement and EMG activity across muscles may be related to an increase in the calf muscles stiffness after fatigue. The role of neuromechanical calf muscle properties seems to be relevant in maintaining the dynamic postural performance after a quasi-isometric fatigue protocol until failure.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.799565/fullmuscle fatiguehigh density EMGdynamic balancebalance controlexercise |
| spellingShingle | Giuseppe Marcolin Marta Cogliati Alessandro Cudicio Francesco Negro Riccardo Tonin Claudio Orizio Antonio Paoli Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults Frontiers in Physiology muscle fatigue high density EMG dynamic balance balance control exercise |
| title | Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults |
| title_full | Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults |
| title_fullStr | Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults |
| title_short | Neuromuscular Fatigue Affects Calf Muscle Activation Strategies, but Not Dynamic Postural Balance Control in Healthy Young Adults |
| title_sort | neuromuscular fatigue affects calf muscle activation strategies but not dynamic postural balance control in healthy young adults |
| topic | muscle fatigue high density EMG dynamic balance balance control exercise |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.799565/full |
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