The effect of exercise induced hyperthermia on muscle fibre conduction velocity during sustained isometric contraction

This study investigated the effect of dynamic exercise in a hot environment on muscle fibre conduction velocity (MFCV) of the knee extensors during a sustained isometric contraction. Seven trained male cyclists (mean [±SD], age, and were 35 ± 9.9 and 57.4 ± 6.6 ml kg−1 min−1) cycled for 50 min at 60% of peak power output in either: (1) 40 °C (HOT); or (2) 19 °C (NEUTRO); and (3) remained passive in 40 °C (PASS). Post-intervention a 100 s maximal sustained isometric contraction (SMC) of the knee extensors was performed. Rectal temperature increased (p <0.01) for both HOT and NEUTRO with PASS unchanged and with HOT rising higher (p <0.01) than NEUTRO (38.6 ± 0.4 vs. 37.6 ± 0.4 °C). Muscle temperature increased (p <0.01) for all three conditions with HOT rising the highest (p <0.01) (40.3 ± 0.5 vs. 38.3 ± 0.3 and 37.6 ± 1.3 °C for NEUTRO and PASS, respectively). Lactate showed higher accumulation (p <0.01) for HOT than NEUTRO (6.9 ± 2.3 vs. 4.2 ± 2.1 mmol l−1). During SMC the torque, electromyography root mean squared (RMS) and MFCV all significantly (p <0.01) declined. Only in HOT did MFCV decline significantly (p <0.01) less than torque and RMS (9.9 ± 6.2% vs. 37.5 ± 17.8% and 37.6 ± 21.4%, respectively). In conclusion, during exercise induced hyperthermia, reduced motor unit recruitment as opposed to slower conducting properties of the muscle fibre appears to be responsible for the greater reduction in torque output.