In old age, maximal isometric force production MIF decreases and BLD increases indicating the need for training interventions to mitigate this impact in seniors.
In addition, a randomized-controlled trial was conducted to investigate training-specific effects of resistance vs.
Balance training was conducted using predominately unilateral exercises on wobble boards, soft mats, and uneven surfaces for the same duration. Pre- and post-tests included uni- and bilateral measurements of maximal isometric leg extension force. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Bilateral deficit BLD is a well-known neurophysiological phenomenon characterized by a reduction in force generating capacity during synchronous bilateral contractions when compared to the sum of identical unilateral contractions [ 1 β 4 ]. Since many everyday activities e. A large number of studies focused on BLD and maximal voluntary force production cf. The BLD is attributed to modifications in neuromuscular and cortical control during uni- and bilateral homonymous muscle contractions [ 9 ].
Different theories have been proposed to explain BLD. Some of the causes seem to be: 1 inhibited spinal reflexes i. In particular, cortical inhibition seems to be a prominent mechanism during bilateral exertions, where the motor cortex of the contralateral hemisphere inhibits the ipsilateral motor cortex via transcallosal pathways [ 13 ]. Cortical inhibition decreases neural drive to the activated muscles during bilateral contractions, thereby resulting in force decrements [ 10 , 13 ].
