Non-invasive investigations of muscular fatigue: metabolic and electromyographic components

Muscle fatigue, which is defined as the decline in muscle performance during exercise, may occur at different sites along the pathway from the central nervous system through to the intramuscular contractile machinery. Historically, both impairment of neuromuscular transmission and peripheral alterations within the muscle have been proposed to be involved in the development of fatigue. However, according to the more recent studies, muscle energetics would have a key role in this process. Intramyoplasmic accumulation of inorganic phosphate (P(i)) and limitation in ATP availability are frequently proposed as the causative factors of fatigue development. Although attractive, these hypotheses have been elaborated on the basis of experimental results obtained in vitro and their physiological relevance has never been clearly demonstrated in vivo. In that context, non-invasive methods such as 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((31)P MRS) and electromyographic (EMG) recordings have been employed to understand both metabolic and electrical aspects of muscle fatigue under physiological condition. The main results of these studies are reviewed in the present paper.