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Assessment of the upper body contribution to multiple‐sprint cycling in men and women
Author(s) -
Grant Marie Clare,
Watson Hugh,
Baker Julien S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
clinical physiology and functional imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.608
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-097X
pISSN - 1475-0961
DOI - 10.1111/cpf.12159
Subject(s) - medicine , sprint , biceps , electromyography , brachioradialis , upper body , cycling , physical medicine and rehabilitation , muscle fatigue , physical therapy , anatomy , physical strength , archaeology , history
Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of repeated cycling sprints on power profiles while assessing upper body muscle contraction. Eighteen physically active participants performed 8 × 10 s repeated sprints while muscle activity was recorded via surface electromyography (sEMG) from the brachioradialis (BR), biceps brachii (BB), triceps brachii (TB) and upper trapezius (UT). Measurements were obtained at rest, during a functional maximum contraction (FMC) while participants were positioned in a seated position on the cycle ergometer and during the repeated sprint protocol. Results suggest that mainly type I muscle fibres (MFs) are being recruited within the upper body musculature due to the submaximal and intermittent nature of the contractions. Subsequently, there is no evidence of upper body fatigue across the sprints, which is reflected in the lack of changes in the median frequency of the power spectrum ( P <0·05).