Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of cadence on joint specific power and cycling kinematics in the ankle joint in addition to muscle oxygenation and muscle VO2 in the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior. Thirteen cyclists cycled at a cadence of 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110 rpm at a constant external work rate of 160.1 ± 21.3 W. Increasing cadence led to a decrease in ankle power in the dorsal flexion phase and to an increase in ankle joint angular velocity above 80 rpm. In addition, increasing cadence increased deoxygenation and desaturation for both the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles. Muscle VO2 increased following increased cadence but only in the tibialis anterior and only at cadences above 80 rpm, thus coinciding with the increase in ankle joint angular velocity. There was no effect of cadence in the gastrocnemius. This study demonstrates that high cadences lead to increased mVO2 in the TA muscles that cannot be explained by power in the dorsal flexion phase.
Highlights
The external work rate produced during cycling is mainly generated by the muscles spanning the hip, knee and ankle joints [1]
When plantar and dorsal flexion phases of the ankle movement were analysed separately (Fig 1), there was a main effect of cadence leading to decreased power (p < 0.05) and there was an effect of phase with more power produced in the plantar flexion phase (p < 0.05)
To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to investigate the effect of cadence on muscle oxygenation and mVO2 in the GAS and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles during cycling at a constant external work rate
Summary
The external work rate produced during cycling is mainly generated by the muscles spanning the hip, knee and ankle joints [1]. Whereas the large mono articular muscles working over the hip and knee joints are regarded the main power producing muscles (i.e., the gluteus and the vasti), the role of the muscles working over the ankle joint (e.g., the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius and soleus) are thought to transfer power to the crank and control the foot during the pedal stroke [2, 3]. The outcome at the joint is the result of the work done by multiple muscles, and joint specific power may not provide a complete picture of the power contribution of the individual muscles. The ankle movement during the pedal cycle consists of a plantar
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