The effects of three days of concentric isokinetic training on isometric and concentric torque production of the forearm flexors in males

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of three sessions of concentric isokinetic training of the forearm flexors on peak torque (PT) at maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), 60, 180, and 300° · s^-1 in males. METHODS: Ten adult males (mean age ± SD=21.8 ± 1.2 years; body mass=87.8 ± 18.4 kg; height=182 ± 9.5 cm) completed two pretests (pretest 1 and pretest 2) and a posttest that included maximal unilateral isometric and concentric isokinetic forearm flexion (non-dominant arm) muscle actions at MVIC, 60, 180, and 300° · s^-1. During the three days of training, the subjects performed five sets of ten maximal isokinetic concentric forearm flexion (non-dominant arm) repetitions at 60° · s^-1. RESULTS: A three (pretest 1, pretest 2, and posttest) x four (MVIC, 60, 180, 300° ·s^-1) repeated measures ANOVA indicated that there was no significant (p > 0.05) interaction, but significant main effects for time and velocity. The follow-up t-tests for marginal means indicated that the posttest (63.0 ± 13.1 Nm) was significantly greater than pretest 1 (55.8 ± 15.1 Nm) and pretest 2 (55.2 ± 12.4 Nm). CONCLUSION: Thus, the very short-term resistance training (VST) resulted in the same pattern of increase in PT at each velocity. In addition, PT decreased significantly with velocity. The current findings indicated that three days of concentric isokinetic training for the forearm flexors were sufficient to elicit increases in PT across a velocity spectrum (MVIC to 300° ·s^-1).