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Neuromuscular Adaptations During The Acquisition of Muscle Strength, Power and Motor Tasks
Neuromuscular Adaptations During The Acquisition of Muscle Strength, Power and Motor Tasks
Neuromuscular Adaptations During The Acquisition of Muscle Strength, Power and Motor Tasks
Toshio Moritani
Introduction
• Under isometric
conditions there is a
linear relationship
between EMG and
force
• Deviations from this
relation are due to:
– Synchronization
(increases amp,
decreases freq)
– Not recording all of the
action potentials
– Failure to record EMG
from all muscles that
cause a given motion
Muscle Strength Gain: Neural Factors vs Hypertrophy
Cross Correlation
increases due to
improved neural
control?
M Waves
H Wave is elicited by
stimulating the afferent
Ia neurons from the
muscle spindle. It is
used to artificially test
the stretch reflex
response.
M Wave and Activation
Neuromuscular Adaptations during the Acquisition
of a Motor Task
• Effects of practice on motor output variability: force
variability, maximal rate of force development, contraction
time interval and accuracy
• Subjects produced contractions 20-60% MVC, tracing
oscilloscope (1500 trials) in 1 week
• Reduced variability in MPF and RMS
• Significant improvements in accuracy
• Motor unit recruitment is the primary factor in increasing
muscle force at low levels, while rate coding becomes
predominant at intermediate to high force levels
Neuromuscular Adaptations during
the Acquisition of a Motor Task
• The results showed much less
variability in force at 60 %
MVC
• At 60 % MVC, changes in
firing rate give much better
control of force than would
recruitment.
• IIa or IIb when recruited would
result in large force variations
• Significant increases in MPF
after extended practice may
indicate preferential recruitment
of high threshold MUs with
fast-twitch fibers have taken
place to meet the demands of
rapid alternating forceful motor
activities
Neuromuscular Adaptations during a Ballistic
Movement
• Earliest adaptation to
rapid movement is not
activation, but rather a
Silent Period
• When a maximal number
of MUs need to be
recruited tonically active
units need to be released
for optimal
synchronization (Conrad,
1983)
• The maximal rate of
force development was
significantly greater in
trials with a silent period
(WHY???)
• Significant decrease in H
wave amplitude 40 ms
prior to the appearance of
the silent period