European journal of applied physiology
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialThe influence of acetaminophen on repeated sprint cycling performance.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acetaminophen on repeated sprint cycling performance. ⋯ Acetaminophen may have improved performance through the reduction of pain for a given work rate, thereby enabling participants to exercise closer to a true physiological limit. These results suggest that exercise may be regulated by pain perception, and that an increased pain tolerance can improve exercise performance.
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Dec 2013
Recruitment order of quadriceps motor units: femoral nerve vs. direct quadriceps stimulation.
To investigate potential differences in the recruitment order of motor units (MUs) in the quadriceps femoris when electrical stimulation is applied over the quadriceps belly versus the femoral nerve. ⋯ Femoral nerve stimulation activated MUs according to the size principle, whereas the recruitment order during direct quadriceps stimulation was more complex, depending ultimately on the architecture of the peripheral nerve and its terminal branches below the stimulating electrodes for each muscle. For the VM, MUs were orderly recruited for both stimulation geometries, whereas, for the VL muscle, MUs were orderly recruited for femoral nerve stimulation, but followed no particular order for direct quadriceps stimulation.
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Nov 2013
Skin blood flow influences cerebral oxygenation measured by near-infrared spectroscopy during dynamic exercise.
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is widely used to investigate cerebral oxygenation and/or neural activation during physiological conditions such as exercise. However, NIRS-determined cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb) may not necessarily correspond to intracranial blood flow during dynamic exercise. To determine the selectivity of NIRS to assess cerebral oxygenation and neural activation during exercise, we examined the influence of changes in forehead skin blood flow (SkBF(head)) on NIRS signals during dynamic exercise. ⋯ These findings suggest that during dynamic exercise NIRS-derived O2Hb signal can be influenced by thermoregulatory changes in SkBF(head) and therefore, may not be completely reflective of cerebral oxygenation or neural activation.
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Nov 2013
Inhomogeneous architectural changes of the quadriceps femoris induced by resistance training.
This study aimed to clarify whether resistance training-induced changes in muscle architecture are homogeneous among the quadriceps and over different regions within each muscle. ⋯ The current results indicate that (1) hypertrophy of the quadriceps femoris is associated with a proportional increase in pennation angle but not necessarily in fascicle length, and (2) training-induced changes in muscle size and pennation do not evenly occur among the quadriceps, along or across a muscle.
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPain sensitivity is normalized after a repeated bout of eccentric exercise.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of repeated bouts of eccentric exercise on the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) threshold, a measure of sensitivity in the spinal nociceptive system. ⋯ In conclusion, this study for the first time documented that an initial bout of unaccustomed high-intensity eccentric exercise, which results in muscle soreness can induce central sensitization. A repeated bout of exercise, however, facilitates inherent protective spinal mechanisms against the development of muscle soreness.