Key points: Previous studies have indicated that several weeks of strength training is sufficient to elicit significant adaptations in the neural drive sent to the muscles. There are few data, however, on the changes elicited by strength training in the recruitment and rate coding of motor units during voluntary contractions. We show for the first time that the discharge characteristics of motor units in the tibialis anterior muscle tracked across the intervention are changed by 4 weeks of strength training with isometric voluntary contractions. The specific adaptations included significant increases in motor unit discharge rate, decreases in the recruitment‐threshold force of motor units and a similar input–output gain of the motor neurons. The findings suggest that the adaptations in motor unit function may be attributable to changes in synaptic input to the motor neuron pool or to adaptations in intrinsic motor neuron properties. The strength of a muscle typically begins to increase after only a few sessions of strength training. This increase is usually attributed to changes in the neural drive to muscle as a result of adaptations at the cortical or spinal level. We investigated the change in the discharge characteristics of large populations of longitudinally tracked motor units in tibialis anterior before and after 4 weeks of strength training the ankle‐dorsiflexor muscles with isometric contractions. The adaptations exhibited by 14 individuals were compared with 14 control subjects. High‐density electromyogram grids with 128 electrodes recorded the myoelectric activity during isometric ramp contractions to the target forces of 35%, 50% and 70% of maximal voluntary force. The motor unit recruitment and derecruitment thresholds, discharge rate, interspike intervals and estimates of synaptic inputs to motor neurons were assessed. The normalized recruitment‐threshold forces of the motor units were decreased after strength training (P < 0.05). Moreover, discharge rate increased by 3.3 ± 2.5 pps (average across subjects and motor units) during the plateau phase of the submaximal isometric contractions (P < 0.001). Discharge rates at recruitment and derecruitment were not modified by training (P < 0.05). The association between force and motor unit discharge rate during the ramp‐phase of the contractions was also not altered by training (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate for the first time that the increase in muscle force after 4 weeks of strength training is the result of an increase in motor neuron output from the spinal cord to the muscle.

The present study proposes an alternative way of comparing performance and acute physiological responses to continuous exercise with those of intermittent exercise, ensuring similar between-protocol overall effort (isoeffort) and the same total duration of exercise (isotime). This approach was expected to overcome some drawbacks of traditional methods of comparison. Fourteen competitive cyclists (20±3 yrs) performed a preliminary incremental test and four experimental 30-min self-paced protocols, i.e. one continuous and three passive-recovery intermittent exercise protocols with different work-to-rest ratios (2 = 40∶20s, 1 = 30∶30s and 0.5 = 20∶40s). A “maximal session effort” prescription was adopted for this experimental design. As expected, a robust perceived exertion template was observed irrespective of exercise protocol. Similar between-protocol pacing strategies further support the use of the proposed approach in competitive cyclists. Total work, oxygen uptake and heart rate mean values were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the continuous compared to intermittent protocols, while lactate values were lower. Manipulating the work-to-rest ratio in intermittent exercise, total work, oxygen uptake and heart rate mean values decreased with the decrease in the work-to-rest ratio, while lactate values increased. Despite this complex physiological picture, all protocols showed similar ventilatory responses and a nearly perfect relationship between respiratory frequency and perceived exertion. In conclusion, our data indicate that overall effort and total duration of exercise are two critical parameters that should both be controlled when comparing continuous with intermittent exercise. On an isoeffort and isotime basis, the work-to-rest ratio manipulation affects physiological responses in a different way from what has been reported in literature with traditional methods of comparison. Finally, our data suggest that during intermittent exercise respiratory frequency reflects physiological strain better than oxygen uptake, heart rate and blood lactate.