Skip to main content
  • Meeting abstract
  • Open access
  • Published:

Effects of muscle fatigue on ankle and the fatigue protocols of postural control

Postural control is composed of the integration of vision, vestibular system, and proprioceptive sense along with the balanced control of the musculoskeletal system [1, 2]. Muscle fatigue can be defined as the decrease in the maximum muscular strength production capacity due to high intensity or prolonged exercise during physical activity [3, 4]. Most studies related to muscle fatigue and postural control use isokinetic dynamometers. Angular speed has mostly been used, being divided into slow [5, 6] and fast angular speeds [7, 8]. The fast angular speed is mainly used for low intensity, long-duration exercise and the slow angular speed is used for high intensity, short-duration exercise [9, 10]. Hence, an understanding of the change in postural control capabilities according to fatigue induction properties of various movements such as plantar flexion and dorsiflexion is deemed necessary.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of muscle fatigue on ankle joint and the fatigue protocols of postural control during single-leg stance. The subjects of this study were 24 healthy adult women. Fatigue was induced on plantar flexion and dorsiflexion with an isokinetic dynamometer at angular velocities of 30 °/s and 120 °/s.

Among the anteroposterior plane factors, plantar and dorsiflexion resulted in decreased postural control during single-leg stance after fatigue induction using a plantar and dorsiflexion fatigue protocol at an angular velocity of 30 °/s. No change was observed in the postural control during single-leg stance postural control on application of the fatigue protocol at an angular velocity of 120 °/s. Plantar and dorsiflexion did not differ significantly with the application of the fatigue protocol at angular velocities of 30 °/s and 120 °/s. Among the mediolateral plane factors, postural control diminished during single-leg stance after fatigue induction on application of the plantar and dorsiflexion fatigue protocol at an angular velocity of 30 °/s. On application of the fatigue protocol an angular velocity of 120 °/s, however, no change in the postural control was observed during single-leg stance. Thus, the plantar and dorsiflexion fatigue protocol applied at an angular velocity of 30 °/s resulted in decreased single-leg stance postural control compared to that observed at an angular velocity of 120 °/s.

In summary, during high-intensity, short-duration exercise involving plantar and dorsiflexion at an angular velocity of 30 °/s, fatigue at 50% of the maximum plantar flexion torque might result in reduced single-leg stance postural control.

References

  1. Boyas S, Remaud A, Bisson EJ, Cadieux S, Morel B, Bilodeau M: Impairment in postural control is greater when ankle plantarflexors and dorsiflexors are fatigued simultaneously than when fatigued separately. Gait & Posture. 2011, 34 (2): 254-259. 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2011.05.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Shumway-Cook A, Woollacott MH: Motor control. Theory and practical applications. 2000, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 163-191. 2

    Google Scholar 

  3. Allen DG, Westerblad H: Role of phosphate and calcium stores in muscle fatigue. Journal of physiology. 2001, 536: 657-665. 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.t01-1-00657.x.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Lorist MM, Kernell D, Meijman TF, Zijdewind I: Motor fatigue and cognitive task performance in humans. Journal of Physiology. 2002, 545: 313-319. 10.1113/jphysiol.2002.027938.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Gribble PA, Hertel J: Effect of hip and ankle muscle fatigue on unipedal postural control. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. 2004a, 14: 641-646. 10.1016/j.jelekin.2004.05.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Gribble PA, Hertel J: Effect of lower-extremity muscle fatigue on postural control. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2004b, 85 (4): 589-592. 10.1016/j.apmr.2003.06.031.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Yaggie JA, McGregor SJ: Effects of isokinetic ankle fatigue on the maintenance of balance and postural limits. Archives of physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2002, 83 (2): 224-228. 10.1053/apmr.2002.28032.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Bellew JW, Fenter PC: Control of balance differs after knee or ankle fatigue in older women. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2006, 87: 1486-1489. 10.1016/j.apmr.2006.08.020.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Salavati M, Moghadam M, Ebrahimi I, Arab AM: Changes in postural stability with fatigue of lower extremity frontal and sagittal plane movers. Gait & Posture. 2007, 26: 214-218. 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2006.09.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gerodimos V, Mandou V, Zafeiridis A, Loakimidis P, Stavropoulos N, Kellis S: Isokinetic peak torque and hamstring/quadriceps ratios in young basketball players. effects of age, velocity, and contraction mode. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2003, 43: 444-452.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to CH Youm.

Rights and permissions

Open Access  This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shin, Y., Youm, C. & Kim, Y. Effects of muscle fatigue on ankle and the fatigue protocols of postural control. J Foot Ankle Res 7 (Suppl 1), A111 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1757-1146-7-S1-A111

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1757-1146-7-S1-A111

Keywords