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Examination of Sex-Related Differences in Fatigability and Frequency Components of Mechanomyographic Signals During
Brian Benitez1, Minyoung Kwak1, Pasquale J Succi1
1Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA.
Background:
Surface mechanomyographic (sMMG) signals have been used to examine sex-specific differences in the mechanical behavior of muscle during fatiguing exercise. However, studies often utilize simple amplitude- and frequency-based analyses, which only reveal the static components of the sMMG signal.
Methods:
Thus, a wavelet-based analysis was used to examine changes in the spectral intensity of the non-dominant limb's vastus lateralis during a fatiguing, maximal, unilateral isometric leg extension in recreationally active men (n = 11) and women (n = 10). Relative changes in spectral intensities and instantaneous mean frequency (IMF) were examined using linear mixed-effect models. Time-to-task failure was compared using an independent sample t-test.
Results:
The neuromuscular responses demonstrated parallel decreases in IMF (p < 0.001). Further, there were parallel, nonlinear, decreases in spectral intensity across wavelets (p < 0.001) and there were no sex differences in time-to-task failure (p = 0.15).
Conclusions:
These data showed no sex-specific differences in exercise fatigability or muscle mechanics during fatiguing exercise of the leg extensors. However, when collapsed across sex, wavelet-specific changes in spectral intensity over time reveal novel insights into the interplay between low- and high-frequency components during fatigue.
