Unilateral Isometric Training Research Articles

Rate of Torque Development Scaling Factor Decreased Following a 6-Week Unilateral Isometric Training Using Electrostimulation or Voluntary Contractions

Rate of Torque Development Scaling Factor Decreased Following a 6-Week Unilateral Isometric Training Using Electrostimulation or Voluntary Contractions

The time course of cross-education during short-term isometric strength training.

This study examined the time course of contralateral adaptations in maximal isometric strength (MVC), rate of force development (RFD), and rate of electromyographic (EMG) rise (RER) during 4weeks of unilateral isometric strength training with the non-dominant elbow flexors. Twenty participants were allocated to strength training (n = 10, three female, two left hand dominant) or control (n = 10, three female, two left hand dominant) groups. Both groups completed testing at baseline and following each week of training to evaluate MVC strength, EMG amplitude, RFD and RER at early (RFD50, RER50) and late (RFD200, RER200) contraction phases for the dominant 'untrained' elbow flexors. The training group completed 11 unilateral isometric training sessions across 4weeks. The contralateral improvements for MVC strength (P < 0.01) and RFD200 (P = 0.017) were evidenced after 2weeks, whereas RFD50 (P < 0.01) and RER50 (P = 0.02) showed significant improvements after 3weeks. Each of the dependent variables was significantly (P < 0.05) greater than baseline values at the end of the training intervention for the trained arm. No changes in any of the variables were observed for the control group (P > 0.10). Unilateral isometric strength training for 2-3weeks can produce substantial increases in isometric muscle strength and RFD for both the trained and untrained arms. These data have implications for rehabilitative exercise design and prescription.

No evidence of neural adaptations following chronic unilateral isometric training of the intrinsic muscles of the hand: a randomized controlled study.

To test whether long-term cortical adaptations occur bilaterally following chronic unilateral training with a simple motor task. Participants (n=34) were randomly allocated to a training or control groups. Only the former completed a 4-week maximal-intensity isometric training of the right first dorsal interosseus muscle through key pinching. Maximal strength was assessed bilaterally in four different movements progressively less similar to the training task: key, tip and tripod pinches, and handgrip. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to probe, in the left and right primary hand motor cortices, a number of standard tests of cortical excitability, including thresholds, intra-cortical inhibition and facilitation, transcallosal inhibition, and sensory-motor integration. Training increased strength in the trained hand, but only for the tasks specifically involving the trained muscle (key +8.5%; p<0.0005; tip +7.2%; p=0.02). However, the effect size was small and below the cutoff for meaningful change. Handgrip and tripod pinch were instead unaffected. There was a similar improvement in strength in the untrained hand, i.e., a cross-education effect (key +6.4%; p=0.02; tip +4.7%; p=0.007). Despite these changes in strength, no significant variation was observed in any of the neurophysiological parameters describing cortico-spinal and intra-cortical excitability, inter-hemispheric inhibition, and cortical sensory-motor integration. A 4-week maximal-intensity unilateral training induced bilaterally spatial- and task-specific strength gains, which were not associated to direct or crossed cortical adaptations. The observed long-term stability of neurophysiological parameters might result from homeostatic plasticity phenomena, aimed at restoring the physiological inter-hemispheric balance of neural activity levels perturbed by the exercise. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02010398.

Mechanomyographic and Electromyographic Responses to Unilateral Isometric Training

Mechanomyographic and Electromyographic Responses to Unilateral Isometric Training

Mechanomyographic and Electromyographic Responses to Unilateral Isometric Training

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of unilateral, isometric training of the forearm flexors on strength and the mechanomyographic (MMG) and electromyographic (EMG) responses of the biceps brachii in the trained and untrained limb at three joint angles. Seventeen adult females (mean age +/- SD = 21 +/- 2 years) were randomly assigned to a control (CTL; N=7) or a training (TRN; N=10) group. The TRN group performed isometric training of the non-dominant forearm flexors on a Cybex II Dynamometer at a joint angle such that the Cybex lever arm was positioned 60 degrees above the horizontal plane. The training consisted of 3 to 5 sets of 8, 6-second repetitions at 80% of maximal voluntary contraction 3 times per week for 8 weeks. The results indicated a significant increase in flexed arm circumference as well as isometric strength in the trained limb at all three joint angles. There were, however, no changes in MMG or EMG amplitude in the trained or untrained limb and no cross-training effect for strength or flexed arm circumference. These findings suggested that the increased strength may have been due to factors associated with hypertrophy, independent of neural adaptations in the biceps brachii. Furthermore, hypertrophy may have had counteractive effects on the MMG signal that could be responsible for the lack of a training-induced change in the MMG amplitude.

Effects of different duration isometric contractions on tendon elasticity in human quadriceps muscles.

1. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of isometric training protocols with long- and short-duration contractions on the elasticity of human tendon structures in vivo. The elasticity was assessed through in vivo determination of the elongation (L) of the tendons and aponeuroses using ultrasonography, while the subjects performed ramp isometric exercise up to maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). 2. Eight young males completed 12 weeks (4 days per week) of a unilateral isometric training programme on knee extensors, which consisted of two different combinations of contraction and relaxation times at 70 % MVC: one leg was trained using a short-duration protocol (3 sets of 50 repetitions of contraction for 1 s and relaxation for 2 s), and the other leg was trained using a long-duration protocol (4 sets of a combination of contraction for 20 s and relaxation for 1 min). The training volume per session, expressed as the integrated torque, was the same for the two protocols. 3. Both protocols resulted in a significant increase in MVC: 31.8 +/- 17.2 % for the short-duration protocol and 33.9 +/- 14.4 % for the long-duration protocol. Moreover, the training produced significant increases in the muscle volume of the constituents of the quadriceps femoris, with similar relative gains for the two protocols: 7.4 +/- 3.9 % for the short-duration protocol and 7.6 +/- 4.3 % for the long-duration protocol. 4. The short-duration protocol produced no significant change in L values at any of the force production levels. For the long-duration protocol, however, the L values above 550 N were significantly shorter after training. Analysis revealed that the group x test time interaction effect on tendon stiffness was significant. Stiffness increased significantly for the long-duration protocol, but not for the short-duration protocol. 5. The present study demonstrates a greater increase in stiffness of human tendon structures following isometric training using longer duration contractions compared to shorter contractions. This suggests that the changes in the elasticity of the tendon structures after resistance training may be affected by the duration of muscle contraction.

Contractile adaptations in the human triceps surae after isometric exercise.

Ultrastructural and twitch contractile characteristics of the human triceps surae were determined in seven healthy but very sedentary subjects before and after 16 wk of unilateral isometric training at 100% maximal voluntary contraction. After training, twitch contraction time decreased by approximately 20%. One-half relaxation time, peak twitch torque, and percent fiber type in any of the muscles of the triceps surae complex were not changed by training. Type I and type II fiber areas increased in the soleus by approximately 30%, but only type II fibers showed an increased in area in the lateral gastrocnemius (40%). Despite such changes in fiber area, the volume density of the sarcoplasmic reticulum-transverse tubular (SR) network averaged 3.2 +/- 0.6 and 5.9 +/- 0.9% in type I and type II fibers, respectively, before and after training in the two heads of the gastrocnemius. Type I SR fraction increased to 3.5 +/- 1.2% after training in the soleus; however, correlations were not significant between the change in the volume density of SR and the change in twitch contraction time (R = 0.46, P = 0.45) or the change in one-half relaxation time (R = -0.68, P = 0.08). The results demonstrate that isometric training at 100% maximal voluntary contraction induced changes in twitch contraction time that were not directly related to changes in the volume density of SR in fibers of the triceps surae.

The role of learning and coordination in strength training.

The central changes associated with a period of strength training have been investigated in a group of 32 young healthy volunteers. Subjects participated in one of three 12 week training programmes, which required different degrees of skill and coordination. Study 1 consisted of unilateral isometric training of the quadriceps with the contralateral leg acting as a control, the apparatus providing firm back support and a lap strap. In Study 2 training consisted of unilateral concentric leg-extension with back support and hand-grips. In Study 3 subjects performed bilateral leg-extension with no back support. Measurements of maximum voluntary isometric strength were made at 2-3 week intervals and a continual record was kept of the weights lifted in Studies 2 and 3. The largest increase in isometric force was seen for the trained leg in Study 1 (approximately 40%). There was no significant change in strength in the contralateral untrained leg. In Studies 2 and 3 there was a large increase in training weights (about 200%) associated with smaller increase in isometric force (15-20%). It is concluded that a large part of the improvement in the ability to lift weights was due to an increased ability to coordinate other muscle groups involved in the movement such as those used to stabilise the body. The importance of these findings for athletic training and rehabilitation is discussed.