Contraction type influences the human ability to use the available torque capacity of skeletal muscle during explosive efforts

RFD is influenced by the muscle group(s) and joint angle(s) at which it is measured.

“as RFD is known to be influenced by the muscle group(s) and joint angle(s) at which it is measured (Bellumori et al. 2011; de Ruiter et al. 2004; Tillin et al. 2012a).”

In knee extensor experiments, baseline noise ranges of <0.1% MVC force have been observed with custom-built dynamometers incorporating a strain gauge load cell compared with >1% MVC force with a commercial isokinetic dynamometer.

“For example, in knee extensor experiments baseline noise ranges of <0.1 % MVC force have been observed with custom-built dynamometers incorporating a strain gauge load cell (de Ruiter et al. 2006; Folland et al. 2014) compared with >1 % MVC force with a commercial isokinetic dynamometer (Tillin et al. 2012a).”

Early-phase RFD can be small, e.g., 2-12% of MVC force.

“Early-phase (first 25–50 ms) RFD appears important for performance (de Ruiter et al. 2006; Tillin et al. 2010) and injury avoidance (Domire et al. 2011; Krosshaug et al. 2007), yet can be small, e.g., 2–12 % of MVC force (Tillin et al. 2012a).”

The greater normalised RFD in concentric contractions appeared attributable to neural mechanisms, as authors measured a greater voluntary:evoked torque ratio and EMG amplitude during the concentric condition.

“This appeared to be attributable to neural mechanisms as the authors also measured a greater voluntary:evoked torque ratio and EMG amplitude during the concentric condition.”

Commercial isokinetic dynamometers are often noisier than strain gauges.

“Commercial isokinetic dynamometers are often noisier than strain gauges (another reason for using custom-built dynamometers; see Fig. 6).”

Studies utilising automated threshold methods have often employed relatively high thresholds, likely due to the use of commercially available dynamometers that tend to have high inherent noise.

“As can be seen from the values above, studies utilising automated threshold methods (including absolute and relative) have often employed relatively high thresholds, likely due to the use of commercially available dynamometers that tend to have high inherent noise (noise range of ~5 Nm or >1 % MVC; Fig. 6c) (Tillin et al. 2012a) in comparison to custom-built dynamometers (<0.1 Nm; Fig. 6d) (de Ru”