0000000000116194
AUTHOR
C. Pérot
Plantar Flexion Torque as a Function of Time of Day
The possible peripheral and/or central origin in the mechanisms responsible for day-time fluctuation in maximal torque of the triceps surae muscle were investigated with a special emphasis on antagonist muscle coactivation. Eleven healthy male subjects (physical education students) took part in this investigation. The electromechanical properties of the plantar flexor muscles were recorded at two different times of day: between 06:00 h and 08:00 h in the morning and between 17:00 h and 19:00 h in the evening. To investigate peripheral mechanisms, the posterior tibial nerve was stimulated at rest, using percutaneous electrical stimuli, to evoke single twitch, double twitch, and maximal tetan…
Neuromuscular efficiency of the triceps surae in induced and voluntary contractions: morning and evening evaluations.
Variations in force and electromyographic (EMG) activities of skeletal muscles with the time-of-day have been previously described, but not for a postural muscle, submitted to daily postural and locomotor tasks. In this article, mechanical performances, EMGs, and the ratio between these parameters, i.e., the neuromuscular efficiency (NME), were measured on the triceps surae (TS) of eight subjects, two times each day, at 6:00 and 18:00 h. NME was evaluated under different experimental conditions (electrically induced contractions, reflex contractions, maximal and submaximal voluntary isometric contractions, and during a natural movement, a drop jump) to determine whether mechanisms, peripher…