Relationships among the muscle strength properties as assessed through various tests and variables

Abstract

We tested the hypotheses that the individual strength properties depend on the applied test and the variable extracted, rather than on the muscle group tested. Flexor and extensor muscles acting in the knee and elbow joint were tested in 58 participants. The standard strength test (SST; based on sustained maximum contraction) and alternating consecutive maximum contractions (ACMCs; alternating contractions of antagonistic muscles) performed under static conditions were separately applied to provide the maximum force (F) and the rate of force development (RFD) of each tested muscle. The principal component analysis applied on all 16 variables revealed three factors that explained 85.5% of the total variance. Contrary to our hypotheses, the individual factors were loaded with the variables recorded from individual muscles, rather than with either the particular variables or tests. The present findings suggest that recording both F and RFD in routine strength testing procedures could be redundant since they may assess the same strength property of the tested muscle. In addition, ACMC may be a feasible alternative to SST since it could assess the same strength properties from two antagonist muscles through a single trial, while being based on relatively low and transient forces.