The Effects of Muscle Fatigue on Muscle Strength

The Effect of Muscle Fatigue on Muscle Strength

Abstract:

The following experiment that was conducted by a group of students at Muskegon Community College, about the effect that muscle fatigue has on the amount of strength a muscle has and the amount of force (grip strength) a muscle can produce. Included in this article are the introduction, the materials and methods needed to perform the experiment, the results and data that were taken from the experiment, and the conclusion that was drawn from the experiment.

Introduction:

Muscle fatigue is a common phenomenon among anyone working out or overexerting a certain muscle over time. Almost all people know the feeling that is a result of when their muscles become fatigued, but do they know the specifics on how this fatigue affects the muscles’ strength and the force it can produce? High intensity muscle contractions will result in pain and stiffness for several hours or even days after strenuous exercise. When you exercise a muscle, it becomes fatigued and breaks down. When muscle fibers break down they become weaker and in result are also very sore (Cleak & Eston, 1992). During strong isometric contractions muscle has an increasingly lower amount of relaxation time resulting in the breakdown of the muscle neurons that control the muscle fibers. This leads to a decreased amount of force that is capable of being produced by the contraction of the muscle. As one continues to exert and strain, the muscle will become increasingly fatigued and in result, produce less and less force. The neurons and muscle fibers will continue to breakdown, allowing less contraction power and would reduce the amount of force produced (Enoka & Stuart, 1992).

A group of Muskegon Community College Students were brought together to form an experimental team. This team’s goal was to test the effect of muscle fatigue on the force a muscle can produce and to collect accurate data from their experiment. They hypothesized if...