Fatigue Alters In Vivo Function Within And Between Limb Muscles During Locomotion

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 01 Jan 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Muscle fatigue is ubiquitous among moving animals, including humans. Despite over 100 years of research, in vivo changes in muscle dynamics during exercise are not well understood.

Here we show that whole-body fatigue in helmeted guinea fowl (resulting from running on an inclined treadmill) causes gastrocnemius muscle force to become highly variable.

This likely represents a key mechanism underlying decreased stability commonly associated with fatigue. We also show for the first time that fatigue affects different parts of a muscle in different ways, revealing the complex effects of exercise-induced fatigue on muscle contractile performance.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences