title: The effects of motor learning on clinical isokinetic performance of postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the effects of motor learning on knee extension-flexion isokinetic performance during clinical isokinetic evaluation of postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-hundred and twenty postmenopausal women (60.3±3.2 years; BMI=27.6±4.7 kg/m(2)) without knee pain or injury and that never underwent isokinetic testing, were submitted to two bilateral knee extension-flexion (concentric-concentric) isokinetic evaluation (5 repetitions) at 60°/s (Biodex™ Multi-Joint System 3 dynamometer). The tests were first performed in the dominant leg, with a 1-min recovery between them, and after a standardized warm-up that included 3 submaximal isokinetic repetitions. The same procedure was repeated in the non-dominant leg. Peak torque (PTQ) was adjusted for body weight (PTQ/BW), total work (TW), coefficient of variation (CV) and agonist/antagonist (agon/antag) ratio was compared between tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects showed greater levels (P<0.001) of PTQ, PTQ/BW and TW, and lower CV levels (P<0.01) in test 2 of both legs. Agon/antag ratio did not change significantly between tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PTQ, PTQ/BW, TW and CV improved in the second knee extension flexion isokinetic testing of postmenopausal women. The results suggests that performing two tests, even with a short period of recovery between them, could be considered for reducing motor learning effects on clinical isokinetic evaluation of knee joint in postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Laboratory of Kinesiology, São Paulo, Brazil. guilhermebrech@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Guilherme Carlos
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Brech
authors.forename: Emmanuel Gomes
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Ciolac
authors.forename: Leonardo Luiz Barretti
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Secchi
authors.forename: Angélica Castilho
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: Júlia Maria D'Andréa
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Greve
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007717:Knee / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D019415:Torque