The potential for potentiation in the unconditioned quadriceps

Power, Gerard Michael James (2020) The potential for potentiation in the unconditioned quadriceps. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Post-activation potentiation has been studied in muscles since the 1930s. The phenomenon is related to an increase in force and rate of force production of the muscle following a conditioning stimulus. Studies have evolved over the years, starting with electrical stimuli and testing in muscles of small animals, and progressing to volitional stimuli and testing in trained humans. Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains has been the only well-established mechanism contributing to post-activation potentiation. Research has also found that post-activation potentiation coexists with fatigue in the muscle. Fatigue has been shown to elicit effects in unconditioned muscles. Therefore, the primary objective of this thesis was to investigate the possibility for a unilateral conditioning activity to cause enhancements in performance to an unconditioned, contralateral, homologous muscle group. The results of the study did not give any evidence at this time for post-activation potentiation effects in an unconditioned muscle. However, the results did demonstrate the complexity of the interaction between potentiation and fatigue, and how participant characteristics and timing can affect this.

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