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Evaluation of force–velocity and power–velocity relationship of arm muscles

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Abstract

Purpose

A number of recent studies have revealed an approximately linear force–velocity (F–V) and, consequently, a parabolic power–velocity (P–V) relationship of multi-joint tasks. However, the measurement characteristics of their parameters have been neglected, particularly those regarding arm muscles, which could be a problem for using the linear F–V model in both research and routine testing. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to evaluate the strength, shape, reliability, and concurrent validity of the F–V relationship of arm muscles.

Methods

Twelve healthy participants performed maximum bench press throws against loads ranging from 20 to 70 % of their maximum strength, and linear regression model was applied on the obtained range of F and V data. One-repetition maximum bench press and medicine ball throw tests were also conducted.

Results

The observed individual F–V relationships were exceptionally strong (r = 0.96–0.99; all P < 0.05) and fairly linear, although it remains unresolved whether a polynomial fit could provide even stronger relationships. The reliability of parameters obtained from the linear F–V regressions proved to be mainly high (ICC > 0.80), while their concurrent validity regarding directly measured F, P, and V ranged from high (for maximum F) to medium-to-low (for maximum P and V).

Conclusions

The findings add to the evidence that the linear F–V and, consequently, parabolic P–V models could be used to study the mechanical properties of muscular systems, as well as to design a relatively simple, reliable, and ecologically valid routine test of the muscle ability of force, power, and velocity production.

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Abbreviations

A :

Slope of linear F–V regression

CV %:

Coefficient of variation

F :

Force

F 0 :

Force intercept obtained from linear F–V regression

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

P :

Power

P max :

Maximum power obtained from medicine ball throw

P 0 :

Maximum power obtained from linear F–V regression

SEM:

Standard error of measurement

V :

Velocity

V max :

Maximum velocity obtained from medicine ball throw

V 0 :

Velocity intercept obtained from linear F–V regression

1RM:

One repetition maximum bench press

95 % CI:

95 % confidence interval

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported in part by NIH grant (R21AR06065) and a grant from the Serbian Research Council (#175037).

Ethical Statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional and/or National Research Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Research Center, Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Sreten Sreckovic, Ivan Cuk, Sasa Djuric, Aleksandar Nedeljkovic & Dragan Mirkov

  2. Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, 541 South College Avenue, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Slobodan Jaric

  3. Biomechanics and Movement Science Graduate Program, University of Delaware, Newark, USA

    Slobodan Jaric

Authors
  1. Sreten Sreckovic
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  2. Ivan Cuk
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  3. Sasa Djuric
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  4. Aleksandar Nedeljkovic
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  5. Dragan Mirkov
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  6. Slobodan Jaric
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Slobodan Jaric.

Additional information

Communicated by William J. Kraemer.

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Sreckovic, S., Cuk, I., Djuric, S. et al. Evaluation of force–velocity and power–velocity relationship of arm muscles. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 1779–1787 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3165-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3165-1

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