Serum creatine kinase activity following forearm flexion isometric exercise.

The purpose of this study was to compare serum creatine kinase (CK) activity following two forearm flexion isometric exercise regimens differing in work to rest ratio, and examine the CK response to a repeated bout of isometric exercise. Eleven males were tested on two sessions (bouts) spaced 1 week apart. For bout 1, five subjects (group A) performed a forearm flexion isometric exercise consisting of 40 10-s maximal contractions with 20-s inter-trial rests (10:20), while six (group B) performed 40 maximal 10-s contractions with 5-s inter-trial rests (10:5). The increase in serum CK activity following the 10:20 exercise (143%) was significantly greater than that following the 10:5 exercise (52%). The 10:20 exercise was also associated with greater tension generation over trials. One week later, both groups performed a bout of 10:20 exercise. A substantial reduction in the serum CK response was found following this second bout. The data suggest that for bout 1 the isometric exercise associated with the greater overall tension levels resulted in the greater CK response. However, when the 10:20 exercise was repeated 1 week later, a substantial reduction in the CK response was found which was unrelated to the tension generated.