Abstract des Autors

The purposes of this investigation were to: (a) examine the electromyographic (EMG) responses from the vastus lateralis during a continuous ride to exhaustion at the neuromuscular fatigue threshold (EMG-FT) and (b) determine what percentage of the power output at VO2max the EMG-FT represents. Fifteen adult males (mean+/-SD = 22+/-2 years) volunteered to perform an EMG-FT test and a continuous ride to exhaustion at the EMG-FT on separate days. A subsample of ten subjects completed an incremental cycle ergometer test for the determination of VO2max. The mean (+/-SD) EMG-FT for the total sample (n=15) was 286+/-40 W and the mean time to exhaustion at the EMG-FT was 250+/-85 sec. For each subject, the slope of the iEMG versus time relationship during the continuous ride to exhaustion at the EMG-FT was significantly (p<0.05) greater than zero slope. For the subsample (n=10), the mean EMG-FT (296+/-45 W) was not significantly (p<0.05) different from the power output at VO2max (282+/-47 W). These findings did not support the contention that the EMG-FT can be sustained without electromyographic evidence of neuromuscular fatigue and indicated that the EMG-FT was comparable to the power output at VO2max. Verf.-Referat