Effect of voluntary activation on age-related muscle fatigue resistance

Ageing is associated with a higher fatigue resistance during submaximal or maximal fatiguing contractions. The present study aimed to investigate the contribution of the central and peripheral fatigue to the age-related differences in fatigue development of the plantar flexor muscles. Therefore, the voluntary activation, rest twitch moment and voluntary plantar flexor moment were examined before during as well as 2, 5 and 10 min after a fatiguing task. This consisted of intermittent isometric submaximal plantar flexor contractions at equal intensity for both young and old adults (considering the age-related differences in muscle inhibition). Consequently, possible differences between young and old adults in voluntary activation during the maximal contraction utilised for determining the intensity of the fatiguing task, which can influence fatigue development, have been taken into account. The plantar flexors moment was calculated using inverse dynamics and the voluntary activation was measured using the twitch interpolation technique. Changes in voluntary activation and rest twitch moment during the fatiguing task were used to assess central and peripheral fatigue, respectively. In both young and old adults, peripheral ( 20%) as well as central fatigue ( 9%) contributed to the time to task failure. Old adults demonstrated greater time to task failure than young ones, but similar voluntary activation behaviour during the fatiguing task. We concluded that, the age-related enhancement in fatigue resistance is not attributable to voluntary activation but is linked to mechanisms located within the working muscle.