Performance characteristics of Parkour practitioners: Who are the traceurs?
International audience; Parkour is a modern physical activity that consists of using the environment, mostly urban, as a playground of obstacles. The aims of this study were (i) to investigate age, anthropometric and training characteristics of Parkour practitioners, called ‘traceurs’ and (ii) to assess jump performances and muscular characteristics of traceurs, compared to those of gymnasts and power athletes. The mean age of the population of traceurs studied (n = 130) was 19.4 ± 4.3 years, women represented 12.4% of the total field and mean training volume was 8.1 ± 0.5 hours/week. Vertical and long jump performances were analysed on smaller samples of participants (four groups, n = 15 p…
Motor imagery and cortico-spinal excitability: A review
International audience; Motor imagery (MI) has received a lot of interest during the last decades as its chronic or acute use has demonstrated several effects on improving sport performances or skills. The development of neuroimagery techniques also helped further our understanding of the neural correlates underlying MI. While some authors showed that MI, motor execution and action observation activated similar motor cortical regions, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies brought great insights on the role of the primary motor cortex and on the activation of the cortico-spinal pathway during MI. After defining MI and describing the TMS technique, a short report of MI activities on…
Central Contribution to Electrically Induced Fatigue depends on Stimulation Frequency
International audience; PURPOSE: This study analyzed the impact of several protocols of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), matched with a similar total torque-time integral, on muscle activation pathways and neuromuscular fatigue.METHODS: Ten young healthy participants (age: 24.6 +/- 4.2) performed 3 randomized NMES sessions on the triceps surae muscles with 20 Hz, 60 Hz or 100 Hz stimulation frequencies (pulse duration: 1 ms), with pulse amplitude (IES) set at 20 % of isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Muscle activity during NMES was assessed by means of the twitch, the soleus H-reflex and M wave responses evoked by single muscle stimulation at IES. Neuromuscular fati…
Corticospinal Modulations during Motor Imagery of Concentric, Eccentric, and Isometric Actions
PURPOSE It is not known yet whether the neurophysiological specificity of eccentric, concentric, and isometric contractions can also be observed when these are mentally simulated. Therefore, our aim was to assess corticospinal excitability during motor imagery (MI) of different contraction types and to test whether a passive movement during MI could have additional effects. METHODS Twelve young participants imagined contractions of the wrist flexors, firstly with the arm motionless (static mode) and second, with a congruent passive movement (wrist extension during eccentric MI and wrist flexion during concentric MI). Motor-evoked potentials (MEP) and H-reflexes were elicited in flexor carpi…
Spinal plasticity with motor imagery practice.
KEY POINTS: While a consensus has now been reached on the effect of motor imagery (MI) – the mental simulation of an action – on motor cortical areas, less is known about its impact on spinal structures. The current study, using H‐reflex conditioning paradigms, examined the effect of a 20 min MI practice on several spinal mechanisms of the plantar flexor muscles. We observed modulations of spinal presynaptic circuitry while imagining, which was even more pronounced following an acute session of MI practice. We suggested that the small cortical output generated during MI may reach specific spinal circuits and that repeating MI may increase the sensitivity of the spinal cord to its effects. T…
Conditioning effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation evoking motor‐evoked potential on V‐wave response
Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the collision responsible for the volitional V‐wave evoked by supramaximal electrical stimulation of the motor nerve during voluntary contraction. V‐wave was conditioned by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the motor cortex at several inter‐stimuli intervals (ISI) during weak voluntary plantar flexions (n = 10) and at rest for flexor carpi radialis muscle (FCR; n = 6). Conditioning stimulations were induced by TMS with intensity eliciting maximal motor‐evoked potential (MEPmax). ISIs used were ranging from −20 to +20 msec depending on muscles tested. The results showed that, for triceps surae muscles, conditioning TMS increased the V‐…
The Etiology of Muscle Fatigue Differs between Two Electrical Stimulation Protocols
International audience; Purpose: This study aimed at investigating the mechanisms involved in the force reduction induced by two electrical stimulation (ES) protocols that were designed to activate motor units differently. Methods: The triceps surae of 11 healthy subjects (8 men; age, similar to 28 yr) was activated using ES applied over the tibial nerve. Two ES protocols (conventional [CONV]: 20 Hz, 0.05 ms vs wide-pulse high-frequency [WPHF]: 80 Hz, 1 ms) were performed and involved 40 trains (6 s on-6 s off) delivered at an intensity (I-ES) evoking 20% of maximal voluntary contraction. To analyze the mechanical properties of the motor units activated at I-ES, force-frequency relation was…
Modulation of spinal excitability by a sub-threshold stimulation of M1 area during muscle lengthening
Abstract It is well known that the H-reflex amplitude decreases during passive muscle lengthening in comparison with passive shortening. However, this decrease in spinal synaptic efficacy observed during passive lengthening seems to be lesser during eccentric voluntary contraction. The aim of the present study was to examine whether spinal excitability during lengthening condition could be modulated by magnetic brain stimulation. H reflexes of the triceps surae muscles were elicited on 10 young healthy subjects, and conditioned by a sub-threshold transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The conditioning stimulation was applied over the M1 area of triceps surae muscles at an intensity below …
Physiological responses and parasympathetic reactivation in rescue interventions: The effect of the breathing apparatus.
This study aimed to assess the effect of wearing a breathing apparatus during a simulated rescue intervention on psychophysiological responses and parasympathetic reactivation of firefighters. Thirty-four firefighters participated in this study which consisted of four experimental sessions conducted randomly: a maximal fitness test and three rescue interventions performed (a) with personal protective clothing (PPC); (b) with PPC and the full self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), including cylinder, full-face piece, and breathing regulator; and (c) with PPC and only the cylinder of the self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAc). Physiological (heart rate [HR], breathing frequency [BF]) …