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The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1995 Nov 1;488(Pt 3):815–819. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1995.sp021013

The metabolic costs of different types of contractile activity of the human adductor pollicis muscle.

D J Newham 1, D A Jones 1, D L Turner 1, D McIntyre 1
PMCID: PMC1156747  PMID: 8576871

Abstract

1. The metabolic costs and physiological consequences of shortening contractions of a human muscle working in situ have been compared with those of the muscle maintaining a continuous isometric contraction and when performing repeated brief isometric contractions. 2. After a total of 10 s stimulation, the shortening and intermittent brief isometric protocols had very similar effects, causing a 30% loss of force and a threefold increase in the half-time of relaxation. This was in contrast to the continuous isometric contraction protocol where there was less than 10% loss of force or slowing of relaxation. 3. The ATP cost over the first 5 s of the continuous isometric protocol was 27 mmol (l intracellular water)-1 while for the shortening and repeated brief isometric protocols the costs were 48 and 46 mmol (l intracellular water)-1, respectively. 4. The results show that shortening and repeated brief isometric contractions are considerably more energetically demanding, and hence more fatiguing, than sustained isometric contractions.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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