EFFECTS OF ACUTE DEHYDRATION ON

NEUROMUSCULAR RESPONSES OF EXERCISED

AND NONEXERCISED MUSCLES AFTER EXERCISE
IN THE HEAT
RODRIGO RODRIGUES, BRUNO M. BARONI, MARCELO G. POMPERMAYER, RAQUEL DE OLIVEIRA LUPION,
JEAM M. GEREMIA, FLÁVIA MEYER, AND MARCO A. VAZ
Exercise Research Laboratory, School of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

I
Rodrigues, R, Baroni, BM, Pompermayer, MG, Lupion, RO, t is still unclear whether dehydration impairs maxi-
Geremia, JM, Meyer, F, and Vaz, MA. Effects of acute mal muscular strength production (11). Some studies
dehydration on neuromuscular responses of exercised and (7,8,10,25) have demonstrated muscle strength decrease
nonexercised muscles after exercise in the heat. J Strength after dehydration, whereas other studies (3,6,9,12,16,21)
Cond Res 28(12): 3531–3536, 2014—Dehydration can impair found no decrease. Subjects’ conditioning, caloric restriction,
heat acclimatization, and baseline hydration status are consid-
aerobic performance, but its effects on muscular strength are
ered intervenient factors that could mislead the results (11).
still unclear. This study evaluated the effect of dehydration
However, different protocols used to induce dehydration and
induced by cycling in the heat on exercised (knee extensors)
hyperthermia during muscular strength tests play an impor-
and nonexercised (elbow flexors) muscles’ strength and acti-
tant role in the inconsistent findings among studies (11).
vation. Ten healthy recreationally active and nonacclimatized Exercises performed in hot (7,8,10,12,16,21) or thermo-
men (age, 22.71 6 2.21 years old; body mass (BM), 77.94 6 neutral environments (25) are commonly used to induce
7.35 kg; height, 1.76 6 6.46 m; body fat, 18.93 6 3.01%) dehydration. Both situations promotes fatigue in the exercis-
cycled in the heat in 2 separate sessions: dehydrated (DHY) ing muscles (1,14,15,24), thereby reducing their strength pro-
and euhydrated (EUH). Dehydrated session led to a 2% BM duction. Although a significant reduction in the strength of
loss, and water ingestion prevented the water loss in the euhy- exercised muscles has been observed in dehydration studies
drated session. Knee extensor and elbow flexor maximal iso- (7,10,25), to isolate the effects of dehydration from those of
metric torques and muscle activation were assessed before fatigue (i.e., fatigue is a confounding factor) is complicated (11).
and after exercising in both sessions. Knee extensor torque Thus, rest period after exercise bout (i.e., 1 night) (12,13) and
decreased 15.8% (p , 0.001; 294.27 6 44.82–247.16 6 evaluation of the nonexercised muscles (21) are main strategies
40.54) in dehydrated session, whereas no significant reduction to quantify the isolated effects of dehydration.
Furthermore, similar to muscle fatigue, previous studies
(2.98%; p = 0.348; 291.99 6 48.37–281.74 6 38.65) was
showed that strength production in humans is reduced due
observed in the euhydrated session. No significant session-
to hyperthermia (17,19). Therefore, dehydration studies that
time interaction (p = 0.098) was observed for elbow flexor
failed to control the body temperature during strength tests
responses (DHY, 67.51 6 14.53–62.95 6 13.60; EUH, (7,8,10) were unable to report the isolated effects of dehy-
68.26 6 13.06–67.87 6 13.89). Muscle activation capacity dration on muscle strength, which is common when heat
was unaffected by the hydration status. Maintenance of euhy- production through exercise stops and body temperature
dration state during cycling in the heat may attenuate strength decreases. Thereby, muscle fatigue and body temperature
impairments caused by water loss in exercised muscle groups. during muscular strength tests are important intervenient
factors that need to be controlled.
KEY WORDS muscular strength, performance, exercise in the
Because, in many situations, athletes and recreationally
heat
active subjects perform a prolonged exercise in their training
planning, which causes dehydration, and then needs to
Address correspondence to Rodrigo Rodrigues, [email protected]. produce muscular strength, this study investigated the effect
28(12)/3531–3536 of dehydration on the maximal strength of exercised (knee
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research extensors) and nonexercised (elbow flexors) muscles after
Ó 2014 National Strength and Conditioning Association exercise in the heat.

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 Dehydration and Muscular Strength

METHODS food and fluids intake, subjects rested for 60 minutes in

Experimental Approach to the Problem
a supine position and thermoneutral condition (;228 C)
This study used a counterbalanced design to investigate the inside an environmental chamber.
effects of acute dehydration on neuromuscular responses of After rest period, BM, urine specific gravity (USG), and
exercised and nonexercised muscle groups after exercise in the hematocrit (Hct) were assessed as parameters of hydration
heat. Subjects were tested on 2 different situations. The first status. Nude BM was obtained using a digital scale (Urano
session was designed to induce dehydration (DHY) (2% body PS-180; Urano Ind. Equip. Eletronicos, Sao Paulo, SP,
mass loss [BM]), whereas in the second session, subjects were Brazil), and USG was measured using a refractometer
kept euhydrated (EUH). Before and after exercising in the (Atago 2722-E04; Atago Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil). For Hct, 20
heat, subjects performed a neuromuscular evaluation. Figure 1 ml of blood were collected in nonheparinized capillaries
describes the summary of the experimental design. from the fingertip while subjects were seating. Subjects were
considered dehydrated when: (1) BM reduced .1% (22); (2)
USG .1.020 (22) or (3) Hct .52% (20).
Subjects
Rectal temperature (Tre) was assessed during entire pro-
Ten healthy recreationally active and nonacclimatized men
tocol. A flexible thermometer (Physitemp Ret Inc., Clifton, NJ,
(age, 22.71 6 2.21 (18–30) years old; BM, 77.94 6 7.35 kg;
USA), with a disposable cover, was inserted about 10 cm into
height, 1.76 6 6.46 m; body fat, 18.93 6 3.01%) were recruited.
the rectum through the anal sphincter. Tre was recorded
The study was approved by the University Ethics in Research
continuously from the start of the neuromuscular assessment
Committee, and all subjects signed an informed consent form.
until the end of rest period after exercise in the heat.
The exclusion criteria were: (a) history of surgery on upper or
lower limbs, (b) recent (,2 years) musculoskeletal injuries in Neuromuscular Evaluation. After a standard warm-up and
upper and/or lower limbs, (c) cardiovascular or respiratory familiarization trial, maximal knee extensors isometric torque
diseases that would contraindicate exercising in the heat or was obtained in an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex System 3
produce maximal strength, (d) systematic use of diuretic sub- Pro; Medical System, Shirley, NY, USA) (three 5-second
stances. Subjects were previously instructed not to drink alco- maximal voluntary contractions [MVCs] at 1.05 rad of knee
hol 36 hours before the tests to perform intense exercise flexion [0 rad = full extension]). A 2-minute rest was given
24 hours and to ingest caffeine 12 hours before trial. Subjects between the consecutive MVCs. After knee extensor testing,
filled out a 24-hour dietary record in both sessions. the maximal elbow flexors isometric torque test was per-
Subjects came to the laboratory in 2 different sessions formed with elbow positioned at a joint angle of 1.57 rad (0
7 days apart. Trials were performed always in the afternoon rad = full extension). A similar warm-up protocol and criteria
(;4:00 PM) to avoid the effect of the circadian rhythm (2). for test repetition as those for knee extension were used. The
Subjects ingested 6 ml$kg21 (22) of a commercial noncarbo- highest torque value of the 3 MVCs was considered for anal-
nated water containing small quantities of electrolytes (in ysis. All volunteers were previously instructed to reach max-
milligram per liter, Na+: 76.8, Ca+: 3.81, Mg+: 1.79; K+: imum strength in all tests, and standardized verbal stimuli
0.40), HCO23 (184 mg$L21) and SO42 (4.06 mg$L21) were provided by the same investigator at each test.
and a standardized snack that included fruit juice (200 ml) An electromyography (EMG) system (AMT-8; Bortec Bio-
and a cereal bar, totaling 161 kcal (77% carbohydrate). After medical Ltd., Calgary, AB, Canada) and a pair of surface

Figure 1. Study design. BM = body mass; WI = water intake; FI = food intake; USG = urine specific gravity; Hct = hematocrit; EMG = electromyography.

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Figure 2. A) Rectal temperature (Tre) and (B) HR responses during data collection. *Different between sessions (p # 0.05). HR = heart rate.

electrodes (Meditrace-100, Ag/AgCl, 2 cm diameter; Calgary, recorded every 5 minutes during exercise. Every 20 minutes
AB, Canada) were used for EMG data collection from vastus of exercise, subjects interrupted exercise and urinated (when-
lateralis and biceps brachii muscles during the MVCs, according ever possible), dried sweat, and nude BM was obtained. In
to Surface Electromyography for the Non-invasive Assessment the first session, these procedures were repeated until BM
of Muscles (23). Similar electrode position in subsequent tests loss achieved ;2%. No fluid ingestion was allowed. Exercise
was ensured through thigh and arm maps made by marking on was interrupted if the Tre .39.58 C or if subjects presented
transparent paper the electrodes position and skin marks from any sign of exercise-induced heat illness (heat cramps, nau-
each subject. The EMG signals from each muscle were filtered sea, and headache). The average protocol duration to
to eliminate signal noise using MATLAB (Version 7.3; Math- achieve the target dehydration level was 91 6 7.37 minutes
works Inc., Natick, MA, USA), and root mean square (RMS) (minimum = 80 minutes; maximum = 120 minutes).
values were calculated from each muscle during the MVC. After the dehydration protocol, subjects rested for 30 mi-
nutes in supine position in a thermoneutral environment
Exercise in the Heat. Subjects cycled on a cycle ergometer (;228 C). This rest time was enough for Tre reach below 388
(167 ErgoFit, Valencia, Spain) at a constant load of 100 W, C (17,18), which was the criterion to perform neuromuscular
between 80 and 90 rpm in the heat (36–378 C, 45% relative evaluation (Figure 2).
humidity) inside an environmental chamber (3.63 m 3 2.39
m 3 3.81 m; temperature and RH resolution = 18 C and 1%, Statistical Analyses
respectively; Russells, Netherlands). Tre and heart rate (HR) An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and SEM was applied
(Polar RS 100; Polar Electro OY, Oulu, Finland) were to verify the test-retest reliability between baseline evaluations in
both sessions for torque and
EMG measurements. The food
TABLE 1. Body mass, % BM loss, urine specific gravity, and hematocrit before intake before evaluations (total
and after exercise in both sessions (mean 6 SD).* calories and percentage of mac-
ronutrients), the percentage
Dehydrated Euhydrated
changes (ranging from before to
Before After Before After after exercising) of BM in DHY
and EUH sessions were com-
BM (kg) 77.3 6 7.4 75.8 6 7.2†z 77.5 6 7.7 77.3 6 7.5† pared using a Student’s paired
BM loss (%) 22.0 6 0.1† 20.2 6 0.4†
t-test. Differences among trials
USG 1.007 6 0.006 1.024 6 0.005†z 1.012 6 0.011 1.013 6 0.010†
Hct (%) 47.2 6 3.3 47.4 6 3.6 46.1 6 3.5 46.2 6 2.1 were analyzed using a two-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA)
*BM = body mass; USG = urine specific gravity; Hct = hematocrit. for repeated measures [session
†Different between sessions (p # 0.05).
zDifferent from preexercise (p # 0.05). (DHY and EUH) 3 time (before
exercise and after exercising) for
BM, USG, Hct, torque, and

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 Dehydration and Muscular Strength

TABLE 2. Knee extensor torque, elbow flexor torque, vastus lateralis, and biceps brachii muscle activation before and
after exercise in both sessions (mean 6 SD).*

Dehydrated Euhydrated

Before After Before After

KE (Nm) 294.27 6 44.82 247.16 6 40.54†z 291.99 6 48.37 281.74 6 38.65†

EF (Nm) 67.51 6 14.53 62.95 6 13.60z 68.26 6 13.06 67.87 6 13.89
VL (mV) 0.25 6 0.17 0.17 6 0.09z 0.26 6 0.17 0.19 6 0.07z
BB (mV) 0.56 6 0.23 0.55 6 0.22 0.45 6 0.17 0.50 6 0.16

*KE = knee extensor torque; EF = elbow flexor torque; VL = vastus lateralis; BB = biceps brachii.
†Different between sessions (p # 0.05).
zDifferent from pre-exercise (p # 0.05).

EMG of knee extensor and elbow flexor muscles]. A two-way presented in Figure 2, within 70 and 30 minutes of cycling,
ANOVA for repeated measures was used for comparing all the subjects started to show a respective higher HR and Tre in
measures taken every 5 minutes during the tests (HR and Tre). the DHY session. Tre remained higher until the beginning of
In case of session-time interaction, a Bonferroni post-hoc test rest period. After that, no significant difference between ses-
was performed. Effect sizes were calculated for specific variables sions was observed. No significant difference between ses-
that approached statistical significance. For the statistical analy- sions was observed in HR during rest period.
sis, it used the SPSS software (SPSS 17.0 for Windows; SPSS A significant session-time interaction was observed for BM
Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), using the significance level of 5% (p # and USG (p , 0.001), but not for Hct (p = 0.891). Table 1
0.05) for all analysis. Results are presented along the text and shows that target dehydration level was achieved in the DHY
tables as mean 6 SD and in the figures as mean 6 SE. session (p , 0.001). Moreover, subjects started both sessions
euhydrated (USG ,1.020) and USG increased only in the
RESULTS DHY session (p , 0.001).
All subjects completed the protocol without signs or symp- Data obtained at baseline evaluations in both sessions
toms of an exercise-induced heat illness. Overall energy intake presented very high ICC (SEM) scores for test-retest reliabil-
24 hours before trials were similar between DHY and EUH ity for torque (knee extensor = 0.948 [9.121]; elbow flexor =
sessions (2781 6 835 and 3011 6 752 kcal; p = 0.421) and the 0.969 [2.394]) and high ICC [SEM] for muscle activity
intake of carbohydrate (50.61 6 9.86% and 53.92 6 8.44%; (vastus lateralis = 0.826 [0.073]; biceps brachii = 0.701
p = 0.428), protein (16.81 6 4.50% and 17.20 6 3.22%; p = [0.191]) measurements. A significant session-time interaction
0.912), and fat (32.53 6 6.58 and 28.6 6 6.41%; p = 0.102). was found for the knee extensor torque (F(1,9) = 13.529; p =
A significant interaction between session and exercise 0.001; effect size = 0.601; observed power = 0.90). Baseline
time was found for HR (p = 0.013) and Tre (p , 0.001). As torque was similar between sessions for the knee extensor

Figure 3. Individual torque responses in dehydrated and euhydrated sessions for knee extensors (A) and elbow flexors (B).

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(p = 0.736). However, DHY session decreased the torque Saltin (21) was the first to assess the effects of dehydration
values by 15.8% (p , 0.001), whereas no significant reduc- on maximal strength from exercised and nonexercised muscle
tion (2.98%; p = 0.348) was observed in the EUH session group. No changes in maximal knee extensor strength after
(Table 2). In the elbow flexor analysis, there were both a ses- a 90-minute cycling protocol in the heat (36–38.58 C) were
sion effect (F(1,9) = 5.263; p = 0.047; effect size = 0.369; observed, suggesting that knee extensor strength impairment
observed power = 0.535) and a time effect (F(1,9) = 13.957; in this study was relatively higher. However, no effect on
p = 0.005; effect size = 0.608; observed power = 0.912), elbow flexor strength (nonexercised muscles) was observed,
but no significant interaction between factors (F(1,9) = 3.414; but only 4 subjects were tested. In our study, although the
p = 0.098; effect size = 0.275; observed power = 0.379). There statistical analysis demonstrated no significant difference
was an important decrease (6.3%) after exercise in the DHY between sessions for the elbow flexor torque responses,
session, whereas a minimal decrease (0.7%) in the EUH ses- the larger relative torque decrement in DHY session (6.3%)
sion (Table 2). Additionally, subject’s torque responses dem- compared with the EUH session (0.7%) suggested a possible
onstrated a similar behavior in both sessions (Figure 3). effect of water deficit on muscle strength of nonexercising
No significant session-time interaction was observed in body segments. Nevertheless, future studies should be con-
EMG responses from vastus lateralis (F(1,9) = 0.205; p = ducted to clarify this possible “systemic effect” of dehydration
0.661; effect size = 0.022; observed power = 0.069) and on strength capacity of nonexercised muscles.
biceps brachii (F(1,9) = 1.011; p = 0.341; effect size = A confounding factor generally not controlled before
0.101; observed power = 0.147), but a significant time effect strength tests (7,8,10) is the increase in core temperature
(F(1,9) = 10.879; p = 0.009; effect size = 0.547; observed when dehydration is caused by exercise (4). Because hyper-
power = 0.835) showed a decrease of EMG signal in both thermia reduces the percentage of motor cortex activation
DHY and EUH sessions on vastus lateralis (Table 2), but (19), reducing the peripheral stimulus (17,18) and power out-
not in biceps brachii. put (17,18), a Tre ,388 C was a criterion to perform the
strength tests. Therefore, it was possible to isolate the effects
DISCUSSION of hyperthermia and dehydration on muscle activation and
This study showed that dehydration induced by exercise in strength. We controlled the body temperature during
the heat decreases maximal knee extensor isometric torque strength tests, and therefore our results of muscle activation
by ;16%. Our results also suggest no significant effect of were not influenced by this confounding factor.
dehydration on elbow flexor isometric torque. Additionally, A possible neuromuscular component that could explain
muscle activation of exercised and nonexercised muscle muscle strength impairment due to dehydration is a reduction
groups seems unaffected by hydration status. of motor units recruited (5,11). Previous studies involving dehy-
Although some studies found no strength decrement dration combined with exercise observed reduced EMG activ-
(3,6,9,12,16,21), others reported a significant decrement ity (7,25). Ftaiti et al. (7) found a reduction of 39% in muscle
due to dehydration (7,8,10,25). Part of these inconsistencies activation during maximal isometric knee extensor contraction
might be due to the different methods used to achieve dehy- with a 2% dehydration level induced by running (7). Vallier
dration, such as sauna (3,9) fluid restriction (6), and exercise et al. (25) also found a reduction in the RMS values of the
(7,8,10,12,16,21,25). Studies that used exercise dehydration vastus lateralis muscle after 2 hours of cycling with and without
protocols to reach BM loss similar to our study also reported water intake (18 and 26%, respectively). Our results agree with
significant decreases in knee extensor isometric strength the previous findings, and also show that a nonexercised mus-
(7,10). However, when dehydration is induced by exercise cle group has no activation changes in any condition (DHY or
(7,8,10,12,16,21,25), muscle fatigue can decrease muscular EUH), similar to other observations in dehydration protocols
strength of exercised muscles, regardless of dehydration without exercise (6). These results suggest that muscle fatigue
(1,14,15,24). Therefore, the comparison between our study induced by exercise and does not by dehydration decrease
with studies that used running (7,10) is limited due to task- muscle activation capacity, as supported by Lepers et al. (14).
dependent characteristic of muscle fatigue (15,24). The mechanisms related to the strength maintenance
We found 2 studies similar to ours, which used cycling to observed in the EUH session remain unknown. Our results
assess dehydration effects on the muscular strength (21,25). of knee extensor isometric strength and muscle activation
Vallier et al. (25) reported a significant reduction in knee (Table 2) suggest a poor association between neural activa-
extensor isometric torque after a 180-minute cycling in a ther- tion and muscular strength responses. Although Judelson
moneutral environment, when dehydration reached ;4.0% of et al. (12) showed a tendency of decrease in the central
BM loss. Although the athletes from Vallier et al. (25) reached activation ratio as dehydration increased, the role of central
twice level of dehydration than ours, the maximal strength factors remains unclear. Future investigations using a sensi-
drop was similar (;16%), which may be related to the indi- tive marker of central drive (e.g., interpolation of a twitch)
vidual characteristics of the subjects, the intensity, and volume could clarify the neuromuscular mechanisms of strength
of the exercise protocol or the rest period between exercise maintenance observed in exercise associated with an ade-
protocol and strength measurements. quate rehydration.

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 Dehydration and Muscular Strength

Our study shows limiting factors. The impossibility of 6. Evetovich, TK, Boyd, JC, Drake, SM, Eschbach, LC, Magal, M,
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