Identification of Peripheral Fatigue through Exercise-Induced Changes in Muscle Contractility

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess whether tensiomyography is a tool sensitive enough to detect peripheral fatigue. Twenty-six strength-trained men were split into two groups: 1) a fatigued group (FG), who performed a fullsquat (SQ) standardized warm-up plus 3 x 8 SQs with 75% 1RM with a 5-min rest interval, and 2) a non-fatigued group (NFG), who only did the SQ standardized warm-up. The countermovement jump (CMJ), maximal isometric force (MIF) in the SQ at 90 degrees knee flexion, and TMG in vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles were assessed preand post-protocols. Data were analyzed through mixed ANOVA, logistic regression analysis, and receiver-operating curves. There were significant group x time interactions (p < 0.01) for CMJ height, MIF, maximal radial displacement (Dm), and radial displacement velocity (Vrd90) since the FG acutely decreased in these variables, while no significant changes were observed for the NFG. The logistic regression showed a significant model for detecting fatigue, whether it used the CMJ or MIF, with only the relative change in VL-Vrd90 as a fatigue predictor. The determination of the area under the curve showed that Dm and Vrd90 had good to excellent discriminative ability. Dm and Vrd90 are sensitive to detect fatigue in VL and VM muscles in resistance training contexts.