Effect of low frequency fatigue on human muscle strength and fatigability during subsequent stimulated activity

Fatiguing contractions of the adductor pollicis muscle were produced by intermittent supramaximal stimulation of the ulnar nerve in a set frequency pattern, in six normal subjects. At the end of an initial fatiguing contraction series, low frequency fatigue (LFF) had been induced and persisted at 15 min of recovery. Stimulated fatiguing activity was then repeated in an identical fashion to the initial series. At high frequencies, declines in force were similar for both series. At low frequencies, declines in force were greater during the second series despite similar changes in compound muscle action potential amplitude. This confirmation that LFF persists during subsequent stimulated activity, and reduces low but not high frequency fatigue resistance, suggests that the impaired endurance of fatigued muscle during voluntary activity primarily results from peripheral changes at low frequency. These findings also have implications for therapeutic electrical stimulation of muscle.