Individual Assessment of the Training Intensity with Application to Physical Rehabilitation

The main focus of this paper comprises the assessment of the individual training weight in terms of the N-repetition maximum by means of time-domain muscle fatigue parameters. Based on a simple biomechanical model the maximum isometric muscle moment Mmax and the muscle fatigue time Tfat can be computed using measurement data recorded during an sub-maximal isometric muscle contraction experiment. These time-domain parameters are compared to the experimentally determined individual N-repetition maximum of healthy subjects. It turns out that the fatigue time is able to quantify muscle fatigue and together with the maximum isometric muscle moment provides a good prediction for the individual N-repetition maximum.