Effects of Muscle Contraction Speed on Number of Repetitions, Exercise Duration and Muscle Activation during Push-up Exercise in Men. |
Sang-Hyup Song, Ho-Seong Lee |
Dankook University |
Correspondence:
Ho-Seong Lee, Email: hoseh28@dankook.ac.kr |
Received: 23 December 2015 • Accepted: 24 February 2016 |
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Abstract |
PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of muscle contraction speed on number of repetitions, exercise duration and muscle activation during push-up exercise in men. METHODS The study employed a randomized, counter-balanced crossover design with two testing sessions that were 3 months apart. Twelve, healthy, male collegiate students were asked to perform two exercises separately, normal-speed push-up (ECC: 1-s, CON: 1-s) and speedy-push-up (maximum speed), until repetition failure of volitional contraction.
Outcomes were number of repetitions, exercise duration and muscle activation of the pectoralis major measured through surface electromyography (sEMG) during push-up exercises. The sEMG data were normalized to maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and expressed as a percentage (%MVIC) in both ECC phase and CON phase. RESULTS Number of repetitions (t=-5.352, p<.001), exercise duration (t=-5.837, p<.001) and muscle activity (t=-4.525, p=.023) were significantly different between two exercise conditions. CONCLUSIONS Normal-speed push-up exercise increased exercise duration and muscular activity while, and speedy push-up exercise increased number of repetitions. Further studies are warranted to elucidate associations between muscle adaptation stimulus and muscle contraction speed. |
Keywords:
push-up exercise, muscle contraction speed, number of repetitions, exercise duration, muscle activation |
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