How to Get a Contraction Without ATP

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) provides the primary energy to allow a voluntary skeletal muscle contraction. However, ATP is quickly depleted by rigorous activity. Lactic acid replaces ATP during intense exercise and the muscles use it to continue contracting. There are also involuntary muscle contractions that do not require ATP or lactic acid. Muscle spasms and cramps are examples of muscle contractions that occurr due to post exercise damage or mineral deprivation, according to a Cornell University study. You can also use an electric current to provoke an involuntary muscle contraction. Electro stimulus machines, tasers and electric chairs all force muscle contraction in varying degrees.

Things You'll Need

• Electro stimulus machine (for muscle rehabilitation)
• Running shoes

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Instructions

• 1

  Sprint as hard as you can for 30 seconds. Depending on your fitness level, you may feel a tightness and burning sensation in your legs just 10 seconds into the sprint. This burning is the lactic acid building up. The remaining time will utilize the lactic acid to cause the muscle contractions to power your sprinting. After the sprint the muscles will become swollen with the acid, but this will dissipate over time and with stretching.

• 2

  Exercise rigorously for 3 to 5 hours with minimal rest. This exercise should be more anaerobic in nature with sprints and sudden intense movements. After a few hours rest, your muscles will begin to cramp and spasm due to fatigue and overwork. These are involuntary contractions that do not use ATP. Full court pick-up basketball and flag football are sports that can result in these types of cramps.

• 3

  Send an electric current through your leg with an electro stimulus machine. Attach the electrodes to your thigh and put the setting on low. You will feel a slight tightness in your leg muscle. This tightness is an involuntary muscle contraction. The higher the setting, the more intense the contraction.