Abstract
The effect of a non-nociceptive sural nerve stimulation on the H-reflex was examined in 6 young female gymnasts and 12 control subjects. At the 70–90 ms delays investigated between conditioning and test stimulations, the sural nerve stimulation produced a facilitation that did not differ significantly between the gymnast group (6.15% of the maximal H-reflex size, Hmax) and the control group (8.12% Hmax). The inter-subject dispersion was significantly larger in the control group (0.30%–21.04% Hmax) than in the gymnast group (4.44%–7.70% Hmax). It is suggested that this narrow range of sural nerve facilitation may have resulted from the prolonged specific training of these sportswomen.
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Accepted: 15 March 2000
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Demairé, C., Ciancia, F. Sural nerve facilitation of the soleus muscle H-reflex in high level gymnasts. Eur J Appl Physiol 82, 446–450 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004210000243
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004210000243