Table 2.

Recommendations for investigators based on achievement of expert panel consensus

	No. of respondents in agreement	% of respondents in agreement	Round consensus achieved
Definitions and validity
Muscle and nerve stimulation provide a valid assessment of voluntary activation	22	73	Round 1
Stimulation configuration and parameters
Self-adhesive stimulation pads preferred to a stimulating pen of metal plate electrodes	24	80	Round 1
Twin (doublet stimulation) required for valid assessment of voluntary activation	19	73	Round 2
Reliability and familiarisation
A single familiarisation session is sufficient to achieve valid and reliable measures during experimental sessions	23	76	Round 1
Verbal encouragement and feedback from force/torque traces are equally acceptable forms of feedback	20	77	Round 2
Real-time feedback improves the validity and reliability of voluntary activation estimates	21	81	Round 2
Increase the current eliciting a maximal twitch response by 20% during voluntary activation assessments	18	70	Round 2
Analysis, interpretation, and other methodological considerations
A single contraction is sufficient to estimate voluntary activation	26	87	Round 1
Twitch interpolation (comparing the difference between maximal voluntary and maximal stimulated force to resting potentiated twitch force) provides a more valid estimate of voluntary activation than the central activation ratio (comparing maximal voluntary force against maximal voluntary force and maximal stimulated force)	22	73	Round 1
Stimulation will always activate antagonists, although this only has a minor effect on validity	21	70	Round 1
Manual triggering of the stimulus is the most consistent and accurate method of stimulus administration	20	77	Round 2

Some participants did not complete both rounds of the questionnaire (Round 1: n = 30; Round 2: n = 26). Percentages will correspond to a different absolute response rate between rounds