Power And Velocity Improvements Of The Triceps Brachii Among Males Performing Unilateral Concentric Elbow Extensions

The triceps brachii (TB) plays an important role in sport and recreational exercise. Neuromuscular adaptations of the TB will vary depending on the exercise stimulus. PURPOSE: To evaluate increases in power and velocity of the TB in concentric unilateral elbow extension with a 3D isotonic stimulus. METHODS: We followed 26 males initiating unilateral exercise on the TB. All subjects performed at least 5 exercise sessions on separate days using a Proteus device. During session 1, subjects familiarized themselves with the equipment; performance was not analyzed owing to wide variance. One subject did not record non-dominant sets and was eliminated from analysis. For the remaining 25 subjects, sessions 2 through 10 were evaluated. We retained 15 subjects through session 8, and 7 subjects through session 10. Paired-sample t-tests compared dominant to non-dominant arms in power and velocity at sessions 2, 5, 8, and 10. Increases in power and velocity were also measured from sessions 2 to 5, 5 to 8, and 5 to 10. RESULTS: Subjects were 31.1 ± 16.4 years of age, 70.8 ± 4.1 inches tall, and weighed 178.1 ± 25.6 lbs. During session 2, dominant power was 84.2 ± 48.1 W and non-dominant power was 89.4 ± 51.1 W. There was no difference between arms at session 2 (p = 0.107), 5 (p = 0.972), 8 (p = 0.121), or 10 (p = 0.362). Between sessions 2 and 5, power increased 29.0 ± 48.7 W (34.5%) in the dominant arm (p = 0.007) and 23.7 ± 46.3 W (26.5%) in the non-dominant arm (p = 0.017). Between sessions 5 and 8, power did not increase in the dominant (p = 0.419) or non-dominant (p = 0.847) arms. Between sessions 5 and 10, power did not increase in the dominant (p = 0.598) or non-dominant (p = 0.464) arms. During session 2, dominant arm velocity was 4.4 ± 3.3 m/s2, and non-dominant velocity was 4.6 ± 3.6 m/s2 (p = 0.419). Between session 2 and session 5, velocity increased 23.9% in the dominant arm (p = 0.009) and 17.2% in the non-dominant arm (p = 0.007). There was no change between sessions 5 and 8 in dominant (p = 0.823) or non-dominant (p = 0.708) arms. There was no change between sessions 5 and 10 in dominant (p = 0.232) or non-dominant (p = 0.665) arms. CONCLUSION: Significant improvements in power and velocity of the elbow extensors were observed within 5 unilateral exercise sessions on a Proteus device. Improvements stabilized after 5 sessions, implicating neuromuscular adaptations.