Serum creatine kinase activity following repeated bouts of isometric exercise with different muscle groups

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the muscle mass involved in exercise and post-exercise serum creatine kinase (CK) elevation. Twelve untrained college-aged men completed three isometric exercises: one arm flexion (OAF), two arm flexion (TAF) and one leg knee extension (OLE). These exercises were balanced over subjects and days and separated by two week intervals. Each exercise consisted of 40 maximal isometric concentrations lasting for 10 s with a 20 s rest between contractions. Relative increases in serum CK for OAF, TAF, and OLE were 181 +/- 70% (SD), 222 +/- 69% and 297 +/- 67%, respectively. An ANOVA using a latin square design for analysis of carry over effects showed that these CK increases were not significantly different (p greater than 0.05). However, the increase in serum CK following the first exercise (379 +/- 90%), regardless of what it was (OAF, TAF, or OLE), was significantly greater (p less than 0.05) than those following bouts 2 and 3 (155 +/- 29%; 167 +/- 54%). Regression analysis indicated that post-exercise serum CK elevation was not related to the amount of muscle mass involved in the exercise (r = 0.30, p greater than 0.05) nor to muscle tension developed (r = 0.28, p greater than 0.05). We conclude that post-exercise serum CK elevation is not necessarily related to the muscle mass involved in the exercise. Because each exercise involved the use of different muscle groups, factors outside the exercising muscle may contribute to post-exercise serum enzyme activity.