Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.
3MotionAI, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Hum Mov Sci. 2022 Feb;81:102912. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2021.102912. Epub 2021 Dec 17.
Muscle fatigue is represented as a reduction in force production capability; however, fatigue does not necessarily result in performance impairments. As the distal upper limb serves as the end effector when interacting or manipulating objects, it is important to understand how muscle fatigue may impact motor functionality. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature to identify how various aspects of motor performance of the distal upper limb are impaired following muscle fatigue. Four databases were searched using 23 search terms describing the distal upper limb, muscle fatigue, and various performance metrics. A total of 4561 articles were screened with a total of 28 articles extracted and critically appraised. Evidence extracted indicates that muscle fatigue results in unique impairments based on the type of motor performance being evaluated. Furthermore, much data suggests that muscle fatigue does not result in consistent, predictable performance impairments, particularly while performing submaximal tasks. Additionally, magnitude of fatigue does not directly correlate with reductions in performance outcomes at the hand and wrist. Fatiguing protocols used highlighted the importance of fatigue specificity. When fatiguing and performance tasks are similar, performance impairment is likely to be observed. The numerous muscles found in the hand and wrist, often considered redundant, play a critical role in maintaining task performance in the presence of muscle fatigue. The presence of motor abundance (e.g. multiple muscles with similar function) is shown to reduce the impairment in multiple performance metrics by compensating for reduced function of fatigued muscles. Continued exploration into various fatiguing protocols (i.e. maximal or submaximal) will provide greater insights into performance impairments in the distal upper limb.
肌肉疲劳表现为力量产生能力的降低；然而，疲劳并不一定会导致表现能力下降。由于远端上肢在与物体交互或操纵物体时充当末端效应器，因此了解肌肉疲劳如何影响运动功能非常重要。本研究的目的是系统地回顾文献，以确定远端上肢的各种运动表现方面在肌肉疲劳后如何受到影响。使用描述远端上肢、肌肉疲劳和各种性能指标的 23 个搜索词搜索了四个数据库。共筛选了 4561 篇文章，共提取并批判性评价了 28 篇文章。提取的证据表明，肌肉疲劳会根据所评估的运动性能类型而导致独特的损伤。此外，大量数据表明，肌肉疲劳不会导致一致、可预测的表现损伤，尤其是在进行亚最大任务时。此外，疲劳程度与手和手腕的运动表现结果的降低没有直接相关性。使用的疲劳方案突出了疲劳特异性的重要性。当疲劳和表现任务相似时，很可能会观察到表现损伤。手和手腕中发现的许多肌肉通常被认为是多余的，但它们在肌肉疲劳存在的情况下对维持任务表现起着至关重要的作用。运动丰富度（例如具有相似功能的多个肌肉）的存在通过补偿疲劳肌肉的功能降低，从而减少了多个性能指标的损伤。对各种疲劳方案（即最大或亚最大）的进一步探索将提供更多关于远端上肢运动表现损伤的见解。
