Electromyographical manifestations of muscle fatigue during different levels of simulated light manual assembly work

The purpose of this study was to determine whether objective electromyographical manifestations of muscle fatigue develop in the upper trapezius muscle in two assembly tasks involving contractions of different low-intensity levels (8% and 12% MVC) and whether these indications of fatigue are homogeneously distributed across different muscle parts. Ten subjects performed an assembly task for 3 h. EMG was recorded using four pairs of bipolar electrodes over the left and right trapezius muscles during the task itself and during isometric test contractions. Both recordings (during task and test) showed a significant decrease in the mean power frequency (MPF), at both intensity levels while the amplitude remained constant. A regression analysis showed significantly different temporal patterns for the MPF decrease for the two intensities. No differences in manifestations of muscle fatigue development were found between different parts of the muscle. These results indicate that in a highly repetitive low-intensity task, electromyographical manifestations of muscle fatigue can be observed from signals recorded in the task itself. Furthermore, the rate of development of fatigue manifestations was different between the two assembly tasks. This fatigue development appeared to be homogenous across the muscle.