Central and peripheral fatigue after electrostimulation-induced resistance exercise.

PURPOSE To investigate central and peripheral fatigue induced by a typical session of electromyostimulation (EMS) of the triceps surae muscle. METHODS A series of neuromuscular tests including voluntary and electrically evoked contractions were performed before and immediately after 13 min of EMS (75 Hz) in 10 healthy individuals. RESULTS Maximal voluntary contraction torque of the plantar flexor muscles significantly decreased (-9.4%; P < 0.001) after EMS, and this was accompanied by an impairment of central activation, as attested by twitch interpolation results (P < 0.05), whereas soleus maximal Hoffmann reflex and tibialis anterior coactivation did not change significantly. Contractile properties associated with paired stimuli and maximal M-wave amplitude for both soleus and medial gastrocnemius muscles (-9.4 and -38.7%, respectively) were significantly affected by EMS (P < 0.05), whereas postactivation potentiation did not change. CONCLUSION A single bout of EMS resulted in fatigue attributable to both central and peripheral factors. The most obvious alteration in the function of the central nervous system is a decrease in the quantity of the neural drive to muscle from the supraspinal centers. On the other hand, neuromuscular propagation failure was more evident for the muscle with the higher percentage of Type II fibers.