Table 2.
Methodological description and qualitative results of functional performance outcome measures
| Study (first author) | Pre-conditioning protocol | Durationa | Muscle damaging protocol | Comparative group | Outcome measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barreto [17] | 10 MVC with elbow flexed at 20° | 2 days |
ECC-S group performed 30 maximal eccentric contractions at 60°/seconds ECC-F group performed 90 maximal eccentric contractions at 180°/seconds |
Experimental group: ISO + ECC-S and ISO + ECC-F Control group: ECC-S and ECC-F |
Maximal isokinetic torque concentric torque, muscle soreness, muscle thickness |
| Brown [28] | 10 (ECC 10), 30 (ECC 30) or 50 (ECC 50) maximal voluntary eccentric contractions of the knee extensors at velocity of 1.05 rad/s | 3 weeks | 50 maximal voluntary eccentric contractions of the knee extensors of the same leg at velocity of 1.05 rad/s |
Experimental group: ECC 10 and ECC 30 following the second bout after the muscle-damaging protocol Control group: ECC 50 following the first bout before the muscle-damaging protocol |
Maximal voluntary contraction, CK activity, 20:100 Hz stimulation force, muscle soreness |
| Burt [37] |
Low–high group performed 5 sets of 10 squats at 80% body weight in Smith machine High-high group performed 10 sets of 10 squats at 80% body weight in Smith machine |
2 weeks | 10 sets of 10 squats at 80% body weight in Smith machine |
Experimental group: Low–high following the second bout after the muscle-damaging protocol Control group: High-high following the first bout before the muscle-damaging protocol |
Muscle soreness, plasma CK, knee extensor torque, RPE, 3-km time trial, average speed, blood lactate, ending RPE, HR, mean VO2 |
| Chen [21] | 5 sets of six ECC of the elbow flexors set at 10% of MVC, with dumbbells | 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks or 3 weeks | 5 sets of 6 maximal eccentric contractions at angular velocity of 30°/s, 2 min between sets |
Experimental group: 2-day group, 7-day group, 14-day group, 21-day group Control group: No pre-conditioning |
Elbow flexor MVC, optimum angle, upper arm circumference, ROM, muscle soreness, plasma CK, Mb concentration, ultrasound echo intensity |
| Chen [2] | 30 eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors with dumbbell set at 40%, 60%, 80% or 100% of participants MVC, repeated every 45 s | 2–3 weeks | 30 eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors with dumbbell set at 100% of participants MVC, repeated every 45 s |
Experimental group: ECC 80%, ECC 60% and ECC 40% Control group: ECC 100% following the first bout |
Optimum angle, maximal isometric strength, upper arm circumference, CK activity, Mb concentration, ROM, muscle soreness |
| Chen [38] | ECC groups performed 30 eccentric contractions using dumbbell set to 10%, 20% or 100% MVC. Isometric groups performed 30, 5 s maximal isometric contractions at 90° or 20° elbow flexion | 3 weeks | Maximum ECC |
Experimental group: Control group: |
MVC torque, flexed elbow joint angle, ROM, upper arm circumference, CK activity, Mb concentration, muscle soreness |
| Chen [13] | 6 sets of 10 eccentric contractions of knee extensors at 10% of MVC | 1 week | 6 sets of 10 maximal eccentric contractions of knee extensors at 30°/s |
Experimental group: Control group: |
MVC-CON torque, upper thigh circumference, muscle soreness, plasma CK, Mb concentration, ROM, ultrasound echo intensity |
| Chen [10] | 2 or 10 maximal isometric contractions of the elbow flexors, elbow joint angle of 20° | 2 days | 5 sets of 6 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors, angular velocity 90°/s, 2 min between sets |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Peak torque, upper arm circumference, ROM, MVC peak torque, plasma CK, plasma Mb, ultrasound echo intensity, muscle soreness |
| Chen [15] | 2 maximal voluntary isometric contractions of the elbow flexors, elbow angle 20° | 0 days, 2 days, 4 days, 7 days | 5 sets of 6 maximal voluntary eccentric contractions at angular velocity of 90°/s, 2 min between sets |
Experimental group: Control group: |
MVC-CON, optimum angle, upper arm circumference, muscle soreness, plasma CK, Mb concentration, flexed elbow joint angle and extended elbow joint angle, ROM, ultrasound echo intensity |
| Eston [3] | 100 continuous maximal voluntary eccentric contractions | 2 weeks | 5 × 8-min bouts of downhill running at an incline of − 10% with 2 min between bouts. Speed set to elicit 80% of age-predicted heart rate |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Muscle soreness (mm) or CK activity, peak torque concentric (Nm), peak torque eccentric (Nm) |
| Howatson [39] |
ECC 10 group performed 10 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors ECC 45 group 3 sets of 15 maximal eccentric contractions with 3 min between sets |
2 weeks | 3 sets of 15 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at 30°/s with 3 min between sets |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Muscle soreness (mm), percentage change in isometric torque, percentage change in total ROM, log CK |
| Huang [22] | 5 sets of 10 eccentric contractions at 10% MVC | 2 days | 5 sets of 10 eccentric contractions at 80% MVC |
Experimental group: Control group: |
MVC strength, muscle soreness, plasma CK, Mb concentration |
| Paddon-Jones [40] | LV + ECC and ECC group performed 3 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at 0.52 and 3.14 rads/s, 3 maximal isometric contractions and 3 maximal concentric contractions at 0.52 and 3.14 rads/s | 10 days and 7 days | 6 sets of 6 maximal eccentric contractions at 0.52 rad/s with 60 s between sets |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Arm girth, elbow angle, muscle soreness, isometric torque, plasma CK, concentric torque, eccentric torque |
| Lavender [14] | 6 sets of 5 eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors, lowering a dumbbell set at 10% of MVC | 2 days | 6 sets of 5 eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors, lowering a dumbbell set at 40% of MVC |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Maximal voluntary contraction, ROM, upper arm circumference, plasma CK, muscle soreness |
| Lima [20] | 10 maximal voluntary isometric contractions, leg press machine at 100° of knee extension | 2 days | 30-min downhill run on treadmill set at − 15% incline speed set at 70% VO2max |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Running economy, isometric peak torque, muscle soreness, CK activity, counter-movement jump height |
| Lin [23] | Knee flexors 3 sets of 10, knee extensors 6 sets of 10 low intensity eccentric contractions | 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks or 3 weeks | Knee flexors 3 sets of 10, knee extensors 6 sets of 10 of maximal eccentric contractions |
Experimental group: Control group: |
MVC-CON torque, peak torque, ROM, plasma CK, Mb concentration, muscle soreness, ultrasound echo intensity |
| Maeo [7] | 20-min DW (− 28% slope, 5 km/hour, 10% body mass added to a backpack) | 1 week, 4 weeks | 40-min DW (− 28% slope, 5 km/hour, 10% body mass added to a backpack) |
Experimental group: pre 1 week, pre 4 weeks Control group: No pre-conditioning |
MVC, CK, muscle soreness |
| Maeo [16] |
Downhill walking at a − 28% incline at 5 km/hour with 10% body mass added for 5 min, level walking at 0% incline at 5 km/h with 10% body mass added for 5 min |
1 week | Downhill walking at a − 28% incline at 5 km/h with 10% body mass added for 40 min |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Maximal voluntary contraction torque, plasma CK, muscle soreness |
| Miyama [41] | 5 sets of 10 DJs | 2 weeks | 5 sets of 10 DJs |
Experimental group: Performed 5 sets of 10 DJs in the second bout Control: Performed 5 sets of 10 DJs in the first bout |
CMJ height, SJ height, peak vertical GRF, ground contact time, blood lactate, heart rate, maximal isometric torque, muscle soreness, CK |
| Nosaka [8] | 12 maximal eccentric actions of the elbow extensors with each arm | 2 weeks | 100 repetitions of isokinetic concentric contractions of the elbow extensors at an angular velocity of 1.05 rad/s followed by 12 maximal eccentric actions of the elbow extensors with each arm |
Experimental group: CON-ECC Control group: ECC |
Muscle soreness, isometric force, ROM, CK |
| Nosaka [18] | 2, 6 or 24 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors, performed every 15 s | 2 weeks | 24 eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors every 15 s |
Experimental group: Control group: |
Maximal isometric force, upper arm circumference, ROM, relaxed elbow joint angle, flexed elbow joint angle, muscle soreness, plasma CK, Mb concentration |
| Nosaka [42] | Eccentric action from more elbow flexed position (50°) and ended at 100°, with 2 s duration of eccentric action after a 1-s maximal isometric contraction | 4 weeks | Subject’s elbow joint was forcibly extended post 1 s of maximal isometric contraction from a flexed (130°) to an extended (180°) position in 2 s |
Experimental group: S group performed eccentric exercise at a short starting length (S) first followed 4 weeks later by eccentric exercise at the long starting length Control group: L group performed eccentric exercise at a long starting length for both first (L) and second bouts |
Muscle soreness, isometric force, ROM, CK, echo intensity |
| Tseng [19] | 6 sets of 10 maximal isometric contractions of the knee extensors at 90° knee joint angle, 2 min between sets | 2 weeks | 6 sets of 10 maximal eccentric contractions of the knee extensors, angular velocity of 30°/s. 2 min between sets |
Experimental group: Control group: |
MVC-CON, thigh girth, muscle soreness, plasma CK, Mb concentration, ROM, ultrasound echo intensity |
CK creatine kinase, ECC eccentric, ECC-F fast velocity eccentric contractions, ECC-S slow-velocity eccentric contractions, HR heart rate, Hz hertz, LV low volume, Mb myoglobin, MVC maximal voluntary contraction, ROM range of motion, RPE rating of perceived exertion, VO2 oxygen consumption, VO2max maximal oxygen consumption
aDuration between the pre-conditioning activity and muscle damaging protocol