Short-term performance impairment in adaptive reaching following exercise induced neuromuscular fatigue in lower-limb postural muscles

Abstract

Neuromuscular fatigue (NMF) induces temporary reductions in muscle force production capacity, affecting various aspects of motor function. While studies have extensively explored NMF's impact on muscle activation patterns and postural stability, its influence on motor adaptation processes remains less understood. This paper investigates the effects of localized NMF on motor adaptation during upright stance, focusing on reaching tasks. Utilizing a force field perturbation paradigm, participants performed reaching movements while standing upright before and after inducing NMF in the ankle dorsiflexor muscles. Results revealed that despite maintained postural stability, participants in the NMF group exhibited larger movement errors during reaching tasks, suggesting impaired motor adaptation. This was evident in both initial and terminal phases of adaptation, indicating a disruption in learning processes rather than a decreased adaptation rate. Analysis of electromyography (EMG) activation patterns highlighted distinct strategies between groups, with the NMF group showing altered activation of both fatigued and non-fatigued muscles. Additionally, differences in co-activation patterns suggested compensatory mechanisms to maintain postural stability despite NMF-induced disruptions. These findings underscore the complex interplay between NMF, motor adaptation, and postural control, suggesting a potential role for central nervous system mechanisms in mediating adaptation processes. Understanding these mechanisms has implications for sports performance, rehabilitation, and motor skill acquisition, where NMF may impact the learning and retention of motor tasks. Further research is warranted to elucidate the transient or long-term effects of NMF on motor adaptation and its implications for motor rehabilitation interventions.

Kinematics but not kinetics alterations to single-leg drop jump movements following a subject-tailored fatiguing protocol suggest an increased risk of ACL injury

“…Neuromuscular fatigue (NMF) is a physiological phenomenon defined as a transient reduction in the capability of a muscle or muscle group to generate force or power following physical exercise ( 1 – 3 ). The state of fatigue often results in performance degradation, observed during the execution of several motor tasks including balance ( 4 ), walking ( 5 – 8 ), reaching movements ( 9 ), dynamic loading during running ( 10 , 11 ), and shock absorption during landing ( 12 , 13 ). Furthermore, recent results suggests that neuromuscular fatigue also affects basic mechanisms of human motor control, causing transient alterations to movement planning ( 14 ), sensorimotor integration ( 15 , 16 ), joint position sense ( 17 ) and postural control ( 18 – 20 ).…”