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Related Concept Videos

Exercise and Muscle Performance01:27

Exercise and Muscle Performance

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When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Experimental Protocol of a Three-minute, All-out Arm Crank Exercise Test in Spinal-cord Injured and Able-bodied Individuals
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Effects of Clenching Strength on Exercise Performance: Verification Using Spinal Function Assessments.

Ryo Hirabayashi1, Mutsuaki Edama1, Arisa Saito1

  • 1Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.

Sports Health
|May 31, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Clenching strength influences spinal function and exercise performance. High-intensity clenching (≥50% MVC) enhances joint fixation, while low-intensity clenching (<50% MVC) improves joint movement and exercise performance.

Keywords:
H-reflexM waveelectrical stimulationelectromyographymasseter muscle

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Area of Science:

  • Neuromuscular physiology
  • Biomechanics
  • Exercise science

Background:

  • Understanding the relationship between jaw clenching and whole-body motor control is crucial for optimizing athletic performance.
  • Spinal function, including reciprocal inhibition and motor neuron excitability, may be modulated by voluntary muscle contractions like clenching.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of varying jaw clenching intensities on spinal function and exercise performance in healthy adults.
  • To determine whether different clenching strengths differentially affect joint stability and movement capabilities.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized crossover trial involving two experiments with healthy adults.
  • Experiment 1 assessed spinal reciprocal inhibition and anterior horn cell excitability across 0-50% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of the masseter muscle, alongside ankle dorsiflexion tasks.
  • Experiment 2 evaluated ankle dorsiflexion performance (reaction time, peak torque, soleus/tibialis anterior EMG ratio) under no-bite, moderate, and maximum clenching efforts.

Main Results:

  • Increasing clenching strength (≥25% MVC) significantly attenuated spinal reciprocal inhibition and increased spinal anterior horn cell excitability.
  • Peak ankle dorsiflexion torque was significantly enhanced at 50% MVC compared to no clenching.
  • High-intensity clenching (max effort) led to a higher soleus/tibialis anterior EMG ratio, indicating co-contraction for stabilization.

Conclusions:

  • High-strength clenching (≥50% MVC) promotes joint fixation through simultaneous antagonist muscle activation, enhancing kinetic performance.
  • Low-strength clenching (<50% MVC) facilitates joint movement, thereby improving exercise performance.
  • Jaw clenching intensity is a critical factor modulating both spinal excitability and motor output for distinct functional outcomes.