title: Effects of short-term isokinetic training with reciprocal knee extensors agonist and antagonist muscle actions: a controlled and randomized trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have shown that preloading an antagonist muscle may increase the acute agonist neuromuscular performance. In addition, studies have suggested that very short-term resistance exercise (RE) programs may also be useful to increase strength and muscular performance.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of three days of RE using a reciprocal action method on the muscular performance of healthy men and to compare these effects with those of a traditional RE group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three men (21.1 ± 2.3 years) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) reciprocal (REC; knee flexion immediately followed by a knee extension exercise); 2) traditional (TRA; non-preload; a concentric knee extension exercise); and 3) control (CON; no exercise). The REC and TRA subjects performed four sets of 10 repetitions at 60º/s with one minute of rest. The pre- and post-RE tests included two sets of four maximal concentric repetitions at 60º/s and 180º/s. A 3x2 ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc was used to analyze the differences in peak torque (PT), rating of acceleration development (RAD) and time to peak torque (TIMEtorque).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant PT increase was found for REC and TRA (p<0.05) at 60º/s and for REC at 180º/s (p<0.05). There was a decrease in the RAD for REC and TRA (p<0.05), and TIMEtorque showed a significant decrease for REC. The inter-group analysis revealed that REC is more effective than TRA for PT gains at both velocities (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is recommended that REC offers benefits for the clinical practice of professionals involved in neuromuscular rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Strength Training Laboratory, School of Physical Education, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Brasília, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Rodrigo L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Carregaro
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martorelli
authors.forename: Amilton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Ana B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Martim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bottaro
mesh_terms: D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult