Olmedillas, H., Guadalupe-Grau, A., Delgado-Guerra, S., Bernales, O. B., Calbet, J. A., & Moysi, J. S. (2007). Muscle mass and muscle fiber composition of dominant and non-dominant arm of professional tennis players. ACSM Annual Meeting New Orleans, Presentation Number 1469.

This study described the changes produced by tennis participation in the triceps brachialis muscle of the dominant arm compared to the non-dominant arm in professional tennis players (N = 6).

The dominant arm had 14.2% higher muscle mass than the non-dominant arm, which corresponded to a 23% greater mean muscle fiber cross-sectional area in the dominant triceps. The dominant triceps showed a lower percentage of MHC I than the non dominant triceps and a higher percentage of type MHC II fibers.

Implication. Professional tennis elicits muscle adaptations in the dominant arm similar to those observed with strength training, characterized by muscle hypertrophy and a shift in myosin heavy chain protein expression to a higher content of type IIa.

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