Biomedical subjects

S E Mathiassen

Publications and source records attributed to S E Mathiassen.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Can occupational guidelines for work-rest schedules be based on endurance time data?

Within the European Community, work is in progress to establish occupational guidelines for physical workload, including work-rest schedules. A model has been proposed which relies upon endurance time as a valid estimate of the short- and long-term physiological responses to continuous and intermittent exercise. On the basis of recent results from several Scandinavian research groups, the present paper questions the use of this model as a contribution to occupational guidelines. It is believed that the proposed model has a limited validity as a predictor of endurance time, as an indicator of short-term physiological responses, and as an estimator of risk for musculoskeletal disorders.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Physiological effects of micropauses in isometric handgrip exercise.

The physiological response to continuous and intermittent handgrip exercise was evaluated. Three experiments were performed until exhaustion at 25% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC): experiment 1, continuous handgrip (CH) (n = 8); experiment 2, intermittent handgrip with 10-s rest pause every 3 min (IH) (n = 8); and experiment 3, as IH but with electrical stimulation (ES) of the forearm extensors in the pauses (IHES) (n = 4). Before, during, and after exercise, recordings were made of heart rate (HR), arterial blood pressure (BP), exercising forearm blood flow, and concentrations of potassium [K+] and lactate [La-] in venous blood from both arms. The electromyogram (EMG) of the exercising forearm extensors and perceived exertion were monitored during exercise. Before and up to 24 h after exercise, observations were made of MVC, of force response to electrical stimulation and of the EMG response to a 10-s test contraction (handgrip) at 25% of the initial MVC. Maximal endurance time (tlim) was significantly longer in IH (23.1 min) than in CH (16.2 min). The ES had no significant effect on tlim. During exercise, no significant differences were seen between CH and IH in blood flow, venous [K+] and [La-], or EMG response. The HR and BP increased at the same rate in CH and IH but, because of the longer duration of IH, the levels at exhaustion were higher in this protocol. The subjects reported less subjective fatigue in IH. During recovery, return to normal MVC was slower after CH (24 h) than after IH (4 h).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Quantifying variation in physical load using exposure-vs-time data.

Variation has in recent years become an important concept in the analysis of loads on the locomotor system in occupational life. Studies of controlled variation in isometric exercise have concentrated on the effects of introducing pauses at regular intervals into an otherwise constant load. A complete description of the cyclic character of such regimens requires a set of three parameters. We suggest the use of the set mean load/cycle time/duty cycle. The design of laboratory studies should more often be based upon the activity patterns found in occupational life. In studies observing exposure, the variation concept introduces problems concerning how to define and how to quantify 'variation'. It is shown that present methods (APDF analysis and contraction frequency analysis) individually fail to pick up important aspects of variation. A new method for exposure variation analysis (EVA) is proposed. Examples are presented of EVA performed on vocational EMG registrations.

Ergonomics↗

PubMed1990

Electromyographic activity in the shoulder-neck region according to arm position and glenohumeral torque.

The electromyographical (EMG) response to isometric ramp contractions of the right arm, the left arm, and both arms was studied using four pairs of surface electrodes above the right upper trapezius muscle (UT) of six men and six women. Contractions were made against gravity with the active arm(s) in eight positions, ranging from flexion to abduction. To describe arm positions, new, simple terminology was developed. Root mean square (rms)-converted EMG-signals were normalized (EMGnorm) with respect to a reference contraction. The EMGnorm corresponding to a 15 N.m torque in the right glenohumeral (GH) joint was strongly related to the position of the right arm (P less than 0.001). The shape of this relationship depended on the electrode position (P less than 0.001). The ratio between EMGnorm at 30 N.m and 15 N.m GH torques was related to arm position (P less than 0.001) and differed between electrodes (P less than 0.001). A left-side GH torque resulted in right-side (contralateral) EMG activity, typically corresponding to 20%-30% of that obtained during similar right-side GH torque. Bilateral GH torque implied 0%-50% increase in EMG activity as compared to that obtained with the right arm alone. The results have shown that signals from one pair of surface electrodes above UT cannot be taken as representative of the EMG activity from electrodes located elsewhere above UT. The EMG recordings reflected a complex pattern of muscular activation, significantly related to both outwardly visible factors (arm position, GH torque), and within-body servosystems (motor control reflexes).

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Influence of angular velocity and movement frequency on development of fatigue in repeated isokinetic knee extensions.

Six sedentary students, six orienteers, and six soccer players were each subjected to 15 tests, comprising 120 s of repeated, maximal isokinetic knee extensions. The tests differed with respect to movement velocity (30 degrees.s-1, 120 degrees.s-1, and 300 degrees.s-1), and movement frequency (5 at each velocity). At a certain velocity, a rectilinear relationship was found between muscular performance intensity (expressed either as average power output or as exercise time ratio) and development of fatigue (expressed either as an absolute or as a fractional decline in work output). Significant inter-velocity differences existed between the slopes of these lines at some combinations of performance and fatigue expressions. Only tendencies towards a difference in x-intercept values were found. This x-intercept value can be taken as a measure of the greatest attainable intensity level of performance without the development of fatigue. This suggestion is valuable both in basic physiological research, and as a possible criterion for optimization of muscular performance. At a given exercise time ratio, increasing movement velocity produced increasing fatigue. However, at a given muscular power output--above 15 W approximately--fatigue developed to a greater extent at the low velocity than at the two higher ones, which did not differ significantly. Substantial individual variation was seen in the positions of the low-, medium-, and high-velocity lines. These variations did not depend on the training background. This implies that the validity of using single-velocity, single-frequency tests in determining isokinetic endurance is doubtful.

Adult↗