Influence of a voluntary fatigue test on the contralateral homologous muscle in humans?

Influences of a submaximal endurance test in the right first dorsal interosseus on force and fatigue-related parameters of activating the contralateral muscle were studied. The test consisted of a 30% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), regularly interrupted by maximal contractions and brief rest periods. Despite the induced central fatigue, as tested with the MVC-superimposed twitch technique, and substantial peripheral fatigue, only minor effects of the previous fatigue test were seen for the contralateral hand. No significant influence was found on endurance time, the perceived effort for maintaining 30% MVC force or the MVC-superimposed twitch. Thus, our fatigue protocol induced both central and peripheral fatigue but only minor cross-over effects of fatigue were found for the homologous contralateral muscle.