Energy cost and fatigue during intermittent electrical stimulation of human skeletal muscle

Force generation and ATP utilization under anaerobic conditions were studied in the quadriceps femoris muscle of six volunteers. Electrical stimulation (20 Hz) was used to produce contractions with a duration of 0.8 s in one leg and contractions with a duration of 3.2 s in the other leg. The two procedures were designed to give the same total contraction time of 51 s and used the same number of stimulation pulses. Muscle biopsies were taken at rest and after 22 and 51 s of work and analyzed for ATP, phosphocreatine, and glucolytic intermediates. The results were compared with previous studies on continuous and intermittent stimulation. Fatigue developed significantly faster with contractions of short duration, and the energy cost was higher. Since force at the end of stimulation had a negative correlation to ATP utilization, there is no indication that the energy resources limit force generation. By comparison of stimulations producing the same amount of isometric work but with a different number of contractions, we estimate that the energy cost for activation and relaxation of a 1-s contraction is approximately 37% of the total ATP consumption.