Eccentric torque-velocity and power-velocity relationships in men and women

The purpose of this study was to investigate the eccentric torque-velocity and power-velocity relationships of the elbow flexors. Forty recreationally trained individuals (20 men, 20 women) performed maximal eccentric actions at each of five different velocities (1.04 rad . s(-1), 2.09 rad . s(-1), 3.14 rad . s(-1), 4.18 rad . s(-1), and 5.23 rad . s(-1), in random order) and maximal isometric actions on a Biodex isokinetic dynamometer. A 2 x 6 (sex x velocity) mixed-factor repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess peak elbow flexor torque during the eccentric and isometric actions. There was no interaction, but there were significant main effects for sex and velocity. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated that values for men were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those for women at all speeds. Furthermore, torques for both sexes were significantly less at 3.14 rad . s(-1) (men: 103.94 +/- 28.28 N . m; women: 49.24 +/- 11.69 N . m) than at 4.18 rad . s(-1) (men: 106.39 +/- 30.23 N . m; women: 52.77 +/- 11.31 N . m) and 5.23 rad . s(-1) (men: 108.75 +/- 28.59 N . m; women: 53.3 +/- 11.67 N . m), while isometric torque was significantly less than at all other speeds (men: 98.66 +/- 28.0 N . m; women: 45.25 +/- 11.15 N . m). A 2 x 5 (sex x velocity) mixed-factor repeated-measures ANOVA was used to assess peak eccentric elbow flexor power. There were significant main effects for sex and velocity. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated that values for men were significantly higher than those for women at all speeds. Pairwise comparisons for velocity indicated that peak eccentric power increased across all speeds from 1.04 rad . s(-1) (men: 110.44 +/- 32.56 W; women 54.36 +/- 13.05 W) to 5.23 rad . s(-1) (men: 569.46 +/- 149.73 W; women: 279.10 +/- 61.10 W). These results demonstrate that an increase in velocity had little or no effect on eccentric elbow flexor torque, while eccentric elbow flexor power increased significantly with increases in velocity.