Chronic eccentric arm cycling improves maximum upper-body strength and power

Abstract

Upper-body eccentric exercise improved dynamic muscular function while training at low exertion levels. Results occurred with minimal soreness and without compromising arterial function. ECC findings parallel eccentric leg cycling findings and indicate that eccentric cycle ergometry offers a robust model for enhancing upper-body muscular function. ECC could have applications in rehabilitation and sport training.

Influence of the Lower Body on Seated Arm Cranking Performance

“…Participants performed maximal seated arm cranking trials on an isokinetic arm cranking ergometer [8,10]. Following a 5-min warmup at a self-selected intensity (~15-40 W, 65 rpm), participants rested for 2-min.…”

Editorial: Physiology and Clinical Potential of Eccentric Exercise

“…Despite the mentioned advantages, the use of ECC in clinical scenarios and aging has often been object of contrasting opinions, mainly because associated with exercise induced muscle damage (McHugh, 2003 ). However, moderate/low ECC loading has been suggested as a strategy to overcome this problem, as when monitored and progressively ramped, it effectively promotes muscle mass and strength gains without inducing muscle soreness and damage, both in lower and upper limbs (LaStayo et al, 2014 ; Elmer et al, 2017 ). Up to date, research has mainly focused on the acute and chronic effects of high-load ECC only (resistance-exercised based) while the potential of moderate/low load regimes seems to have been virtually neglected.…”

Acute Cardiovascular Responses to Novel Combinations of Resistance and Aerobic Exercise

“…However, after training, only the concentric resistance training participants increased their arterial stiffness. Likewise, one of our recent training studies reported no change in radial-carotid or carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity after dynamic eccentric arm exercise (Elmer et al, 2017). This suggested that eccentric exercise may be a safe form of resistance exercise in terms of cardiovascular health.…”

“…In addition to this increased capacity for force production, eccentric exercise is performed with a lower metabolic cost and thus lower perceived exertion (Elmer, Danvind, & Holmberg, 2013;Elmer & LaStayo, 2014;Elmer, Marshall, McGinnis, Van Haitsma, & LaStayo, 2013). To date, it is well established that eccentric exercise is more effective than traditional concentric-based exercise at improving neuromuscular function (Elmer et al, 2017), balance, and mobility in populations ranging from cardiopulmonary patients to competitive athletes (Isner-Horobeti et al, 2013;.…”

“…Twenty-two healthy individuals volunteered to participate in this study. Seventeen of these participants were part of a previously published training study (Elmer et al, 2017). Values are reported as Mean ± SE.…”