Time course of muscle hypertrophy, strength, and muscle activation with intense eccentric training

A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the College of Kinesiology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon

By Joel Robert Krentz Fall 2008

© Joel R. Krentz, 2008. All rights reserved.

Permission to Use In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Dean of the College of Kinesiology University of Saskatchewan 105 Gymnasium Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C2

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Abstract Early strength increase with training is normally attributed to neural adaptations but recent evidence suggests that muscle hypertrophy occurs earlier than previously thought. The purpose of this study was to examine the time course of adaptation through 20 days of training and 5 days of detraining. Twenty-two untrained subjects trained one arm every 2nd day for 20 days. Subjects performed isokinetic eccentric biceps training at 90°/s (6 sets of 8 reps). Muscle thickness (reported in cm) via ultrasound, strength (reported in Nm) and muscle activation (electromyography) were measured before, during and after training (9 time points). Muscle thickness increased after 8 days of training (3.66±0.11 to 3.90±0.12; p