Relationship Between Force-Time and Velocity-Time Characteristics of Dynamic and Isometric Muscle Actions

Previous research has investigated the force-time curve characteristics of isometric and dynamic muscle actions; however, few studies have addressed their relationship to dynamic exercise velocity-time variables. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between velocity-time characteristics (high pull and vertical jump peak velocity and rate of velocity development HPPV, HPRVD, VJPV, VJRVD), force-time characteristics (isometric peak force IsoPF, body mass adjusted isometric peak force IsoPF/BM, isometric rate of force development at different millisecond windows IsoRFD50-250, dynamic peak force HPPF, body mass adjusted dynamic peak force HPPF/BM), and vertical jump height (VJHeight). Nineteen recreationally trained men (age 23.89 ± 2.92 yr; height 176.32 ± 7.06 cm; mass 78.76 ± 16.50 kg) completed 2 testing sessions. The first session consisted of 3 isometric mid-thigh pulls on a force plate with each repetition held for 3 seconds. On the second testing session, subjects completed 3 dynamic mid-thigh high pulls with 30% IsoPF followed by 3 vertical jumps on a force plate. The HPRVD correlated with IsoRFD50 (r = 0.52) and IsoRFD100 (r = 0.49). The HPPV correlated with IsoPF/BM (r = -0.60), IsoRFD50 (r = 0.56), and IsoRFD100 (r = 0.56). The VJHeight correlated with IsoPF/BM (r = 0.61), whereas VJPV correlated with IsoPF/BM (r = 0.62). These correlations suggest that explosive isometric force production within 50 to 100 milliseconds may influence the ability to accelerate an implement or body and attain high velocity, albeit in a moderate fashion. In addition, body mass adjusted strength may positively influence vertical jump parameters.