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Published on: November 11, 2022
Reduced quadriceps activation after lumbar paraspinal fatiguing exercise
Joseph M Hart1, Julie M Fritz, D Casey Kerrigan
1University of Virginia, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0159, USA. jmh3zf@virginia.edu
Context:
Although poor paraspinal muscle endurance has been associated with less quadriceps activation (QA) in persons with a history of low back pain, no authors have addressed the acute neuromuscular response after lumbar paraspinal fatiguing exercise.
Objective:
To compare QA after lumbar paraspinal fatiguing exercise in healthy individuals and those with a history of low back pain.
Design:
A 2 x 4 repeated-measures, time-series design.
Setting:
Exercise and Sport Injury Laboratory.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Sixteen volunteers participated (9 males, 7 females; 8 controls and 8 with a history of low back pain; age = 24.1 +/- 3.1 years, height = 173.4 +/- 7.1 cm, mass = 72.4 +/- 12.1 kg).
Intervention(S):
Subjects performed 3 sets of isometric lumbar paraspinal fatiguing muscle contractions. Exercise sets continued until the desired shift in lumbar paraspinal electromyographic median power frequency was observed. Baseline QA was compared with QA after each exercise set.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
An electric burst was superimposed while subjects performed a maximal quadriceps contraction. We used the central activation ratio to calculate QA = (F(MVIC)/[F(MVIC) + F(Burst)])* 100, where F = force and MVIC = maximal voluntary isometric contractions. Quadriceps electromyographic activity was collected at the same time as QA measurements to permit calculation of median frequency during MVIC.
Results:
Average QA decreased from baseline (87.4% +/- 8.2%) after the first (84.5% +/- 10.5%), second (81.4% +/- 11.0%), and third (78.2% +/- 12.7%) fatiguing exercise sets. On average, the group with a history of low back pain showed significantly more QA than controls. No significant change in quadriceps median frequency was noted during the quadriceps MVICs.
Conclusions:
The quadriceps muscle group was inhibited after lumbar paraspinal fatiguing exercise in the absence of quadriceps fatigue. This effect may be different for people with a history of low back pain compared with healthy controls.
