The purpose of this study was to assess strength performance after an acute bout of maximally tolerable passive stretch (PS(max)) in human subjects. Ten young adults (6 men and 4 women) underwent 30 min of cyclical PS(max) (13 stretches of 135 s each over 33 min) and a similar control period (Con) of no stretch of the ankle plantarflexors. Measures of isometric strength (maximal voluntary contraction), with twitch interpolation and electromyography, and twitch characteristics were assessed before (Pre), immediately after (Post), and at 5, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min after PS(max) or Con. Compared with Pre, maximal voluntary contraction was decreased at Post (28%) and at 5 (21%), 15 (13%), 30 (12%), 45 (10%), and 60 (9%) min after PS(max) (P < 0.05). Motor unit activation and electromyogram were significantly depressed after PS(max) but had recovered by 15 min. An additional testing trial confirmed that the torque-joint angle relation may have been temporarily altered, but at Post only. These data indicate that prolonged stretching of a single muscle decreases voluntary strength for up to 1 h after the stretch as a result of impaired activation and contractile force in the early phase of deficit and by impaired contractile force throughout the entire period of deficit.

A gender difference in absolute muscle strength is well documented.The e'xtent to which quantitative (fiber area and number) and qualitative (specific tension) differences in muscle contribute to this is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to examine a variety of muscle characteristics in the biceps brachii and vastus lateralis in a sample of males (n-8) and females (n=8) The difference in type II fiber area in the biceps brachii was not statistically significant despite the fact that these fibers were almost twice as large in the males as in 2 the females (8207 vs. 4306 urn). No significant gender difference was found in biceps fiber number (180,620 vs.l56,872) or muscle area to fiber area ratio in the vastus lateralis (451,468 vs. 465,007).No significant gender differences were found in any of the motor unit characteristics.The results indicate that the primary determinant of the greater muscle strength of males is their larger mean fiber areas which results in greater muscle cross-sectional areas.iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

. Arterial blood pressure response to heavy resistance exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 58(3): 785-790, 1985.-The purpose of this study was to record the blood pressure response to heavy weight-lifting exercise in five experienced body builders. Blood pressure was directly recorded by means of a capacitance transducer connected to a catheter in the brachial artery. Intrathoracic pressure with the Valsalva maneuver was recorded as mouth pressure by having the subject maintain an open glottis while expiring against a column of Hg during the lifts. Exercises included single-arm curls, overhead presses, and both double-and single-leg presses performed to failure at 80, 90, 95, and 100% of maximum. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures rose rapidly to extremely high values during the concentric contraction phase for each lift and declined with the eccentric contraction. The greatest peak pressures occurred during the double-leg press where the mean value for the group was 320/250 mmHg, with pressures in one subject exceeding 480/350 mmHg. Peak pressures with the single-arm curl exercise reached a mean group value of 255,' 190 mmHg when repetitions were continued to failure. Mouth pressures of 30-50 Torr during a single maximum lift, or as subjects approached failure with a submaximal weight, indicate that a portion of the observed increase in blood pressure was caused by a Valsalva maneuver. It was concluded that when healthy young subjects perform weight-lifting exercises the mechanical compression of blood vessels combines with a potent pressor response and a Valsalva response to produce extreme elevations in blood pressure. Pressures are extreme even when exercise is performed with a relatively small muscle mass.weight-lifting exercise; blood pressure; static contraction; small versus large muscle mass; Valsalva maneuver SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE NOW demonstratedthatregular resistance training or weight lifting is associated with ventricular wall hypertrophy (11, 12, 14, 20). Such findings are considered to be a normal adaptation to a systemic pressure overload induced by such exercise. METHODSFive healthy male volunteers (22-28 yr) served as subjects. All were experienced body builders and were fully informed of the purposes of the study and the associated risks in accordance with the institution's ethics committee.The left brachial artery of each subject was cannulated under local anesthesia with a 24-gauge Angiocath that was connected to a pressure transducer (Bell and Howell, Pasadena, CA) as illustrated in Fig. 1. The response of the transducer was verified to be linear within the range O-500 mmHg, and the system was statically calibrated against an Hg manometer by means of a calibration syringe. In addition, the system was dynamically calibrated by using square-wave pressure signals that were rapidly switched into the arterial line. These signals were then critically damped by adjusting the height of an air column in a section of low-compliance tubing inserted into the line (Fig. 1). Arterial blood pressure was cons...

In small mammals, muscles with shorter twitch contraction times and a predominance of fast-twitch, type II fibers exhibit greater posttetanic twitch force potentiation than muscles with longer twitch contraction times and a predominance of slow-twitch, type I fibers. In humans, the correlation between potentiation and fiber-type distribution has not been found consistently. In the present study, postactivation potentiation (PAP) was induced in the knee extensors of 20 young men by a 10-s maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVC). Maximal twitch contractions of the knee extensors were evoked before and after the MVC. A negative correlation (r = -0. 73, P < 0.001) was found between PAP and pre-MVC twitch time to peak torque (TPT). The four men with the highest (HPAP, 104 +/- 11%) and lowest (LPAP, 43 +/- 7%) PAP values (P < 0.0001) underwent needle biopsies of vastus lateralis. HPAP had a greater percentage of type II fibers (72 +/- 9 vs. 39 +/- 7%, P < 0.001) and shorter pre-MVC twitch TPT (61 +/- 12 vs. 86 +/- 7 ms, P < 0.05) than LPAP. These data indicate that, similar to the muscles of small mammals, human muscles with shorter twitch contraction times and a higher percentage of type II fibers exhibit greater PAP.

The effects of gender on substrate utilization during prolonged submaximal exercise were studied in six males and six equally trained females. After 3 days on a controlled diet (so that the proportions of carbohydrate, protein, and fat were identical), subjects ran on a treadmill at a velocity requiring an O2 consumption of approximately 65% of maximal. They ran a total "distance" of 15.5 km with a range in performance time of 90-101 min. Plasma glycerol, glucose, free fatty acids, and selected hormones (catecholamines, growth hormone, insulin, and glucagon) were measured throughout and after the run by sampling from an indwelling venous catheter, and glycogen utilization was calculated from pre- and postexercise needle biopsies of vastus lateralis. Exercise protein catabolism was estimated from 24-h urinary urea nitrogen excretion over the test day and a nonexercise day. The males were found to have significantly higher respiratory exchange ratios (mean 0.94 vs. 0.87), greater muscle glycogen utilization (by 25%), and greater urea nitrogen excretion (by 30%) than the females. No gender differences were evident in the hormonal response to the exercise with the exception of a lower insulin concentration and a higher epinephrine concentration in the males. We conclude that, during moderate-intensity long-duration exercise, females demonstrate greater lipid utilization and less carbohydrate and protein metabolism than equally trained and nourished males.

No abstract

Our purpose was to examine the effects of sprint interval training on muscle glycolytic and oxidative enzyme activity and exercise performance. Twelve healthy men (22 +/- 2 yr of age) underwent intense interval training on a cycle ergometer for 7 wk. Training consisted of 30-s maximum sprint efforts (Wingate protocol) interspersed by 2-4 min of recovery, performed three times per week. The program began with four intervals with 4 min of recovery per session in week 1 and progressed to 10 intervals with 2.5 min of recovery per session by week 7. Peak power output and total work over repeated maximal 30-s efforts and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) were measured before and after the training program. Needle biopsies were taken from vastus lateralis of nine subjects before and after the program and assayed for the maximal activity of hexokinase, total glycogen phosphorylase, phosphofructokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, succinate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase. The training program resulted in significant increases in peak power output, total work over 30 s, and VO2 max. Maximal enzyme activity of hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, citrate synthase, succinate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase was also significantly (P < 0.05) higher after training. It was concluded that relatively brief but intense sprint training can result in an increase in both glycolytic and oxidative enzyme activity, maximum short-term power output, and VO2 max.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the magnitude and time course for changes in muscle protein synthesis (MPS) after a single bout of resistance exercise. Two groups of six male subjects performed heavy resistance exercise with the elbow flexors of one arm while the opposite arm served as a control. MPS from exercised (ex) and control (con) biceps brachii was assessed 4 (group A) and 24 h (group B) postexercise by the increment in L-[1-13C]leucine incorporation into muscle biopsy samples. In addition, RNA capacity and RNA activity were determined to assess whether transcriptional and/or translational processes affected MPS. MPS was significantly elevated in biceps of the ex compared with the con arms of both groups (group A, ex 0.1007 +/- 0.0330 vs. con 0.067 +/- 0.0204%/h; group B ex 0.0944 +/- 0.0363 vs. con 0.0452 +/- 0.0126%/h). RNA capacity was unchanged in the ex biceps of both groups relative to the con biceps, whereas RNA activity was significantly elevated in the ex biceps of both groups (group A, ex 0.19 +/- 0.10 vs. con 0.12 +/- 0.05 micrograms protein.h-1.microgram-1 total RNA; group B, ex 0.18 +/- 0.06 vs. con 0.08 +/- 0.02 micrograms protein.h-1.microgram-1 total RNA). The results indicate that a single bout of heavy resistance exercise can increase biceps MPS for up to 24 h postexercise. In addition, these increases appear to be due to changes in posttranscriptional events.