Scratch-digging mammals are commonly described as having large, powerful forelimb muscles for applying high force to excavate earth, yet studies quantifying the architectural properties of the musculature are largely unavailable. To further test hypotheses about traits that represent specializations for scratch-digging, we quantified muscle architectural properties and myosin expression in the ...

With fatiguing exercise, firing of group III/IV muscle afferents reduces voluntary activation and force of the exercised muscles. These afferents can also act across agonist/antagonist pairs, reducing voluntary activation and force in nonfatigued muscles. We hypothesized that maintained firing of group III/IV muscle afferents after a fatiguing adductor pollicis (AP) contraction would decrease v...

We investigated the acute and chronic effects of low-intensity concentric or eccentric resistance training with blood flow restriction (BFR) on muscle size and strength. Ten young men performed 30% of concentric one repetition maximal dumbbell curl exercise (four sets, total 75 reps) 3 days/week for 6 weeks. One arm was randomly chosen for concentric BFR (CON-BFR) exercise only and the other ar...

Time to failure and electromyogram activity were measured during two types of sustained submaximal contractions with the elbow flexors that required each subject to exert the same net muscle torque with the forearm in two different postures. Twenty men performed the tasks, either by maintaining a constant force while pushing against a force transducer (force task), or by supporting an equivalen...

OBJECTIVE the present study examined which of muscle volume (MV) and cross-sectional area (CSA) is appropriate for evaluating the relation with elbow flexor muscle strength in young and elderly individuals. METHODS the subjects were 52 young (20-34 year; 30 men and 22 women) and 51 elderly individuals (60-77 year, 19 men and 32 women). The MV and maximal anatomical CSA (ACSA) of elbow flexors...

The purpose was to assess a novel form of strength training, antagonist resisted training (ART), with potential use in microgravity and athletic rehabilitation settings. ART uses the force from antagonist muscles, during cocontractions, as the source of resistance for the agonists. Strength and electromyography (EMG) measurements were recorded before and after a 6-week training program during w...

We examined the effect of low-load, elastic band resistance training with blood flow restriction (BFR) on muscle size and arterial stiffness in older adults. Healthy older adults (aged 61-85 years) were divided into BFR training (BFR-T, n = 9) or non-BFR training (CON-T, n = 8) groups. Both groups performed low-load arm curl and triceps down exercises (four sets, total 75 repetitions for each) ...

We compared the quantitative electromyographic activity of the elbow flexors during four exercises (forced inspiration, forced expiration, trunk flexion and attempted elbow flexion), following intercostal nerve transfer to the musculocutaneous nerve in 32 patients who had sustained root avulsion brachial plexus injuries. Quantitative electromyographic evaluation of the mean and maximum amplitud...