The acute effect of stretching on the passive stiffness of the human gastrocnemius muscle tendon unit.
Christopher I. Morse,Hans Degens,Olivier R. Seynnes,Constantinos N. Maganaris,David A. Jones,David A. Jones +5 more
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
Passive stretching was commonly used to increase limb range of movement prior to athletic performance but it is unclear which component of the muscle–tendon unit (MTU) is affected by this procedure but post‐conditioning this was not the case suggesting that at least part of the change in muscle with conditioning stretches was due to altered properties of connective tissue.Abstract:
Passive stretching is commonly used to increase limb range of movement prior to athletic performance but it is unclear which component of the muscle-tendon unit (MTU) is affected by this procedure. Movement of the myotendinous junction (MTJ) of the gastrocnemius medialis muscle was measured by ultrasonography in eight male participants (20.5 +/- 0.9 years) during a standard stretch in which the ankle was passively dorsiflexed at 1 deg s(-1) from 0 deg (the foot at right angles to the tibia) to the participants' volitional end range of motion (ROM). Passive torque, muscle fascicle length and pennation angle were also measured. Standard stretch measurements were made before (pre-) and after (post-) five passive conditioning stretches. During each conditioning stretch the MTU was taken to the end ROM and held for 1 min. Pre-conditioning the extension of the MTU during stretch was taken up almost equally by muscle and tendon. Following conditioning, ROM increased by 4.6 +/- 1.5 deg (17%) and the passive stiffness of the MTU was reduced (between 20 and 25 deg) by 47% from 16.0 +/- 3.6 to 10.2 +/- 2.0 Nm deg(-1). Distal MTJ displacement (between 0 and 25 deg) increased from 0.92 +/- 0.06 to 1.16 +/- 0.05 cm, accounting for all the additional MTU elongation and indicating that there was no change in tendon properties. Muscle extension pre-conditioning was explicable by change in length and pennation angle of the fascicles but post-conditioning this was not the case suggesting that at least part of the change in muscle with conditioning stretches was due to altered properties of connective tissue.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
New Imaging Methods for Non-invasive Assessment of Mechanical, Structural, and Biochemical Properties of Human Achilles Tendon: A Mini Review
TL;DR: Some methodological cautions associated with conventional ultrasonography are highlighted and perspectives for in vivo human Achilles tendon assessment using ultrasonographic elastography and UHF MRI are highlighted.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of Instrument-assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization on Musculoskeletal Properties.
TL;DR: Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization can improve joint range of motion, without affecting the mechanical and neural properties of the treated muscles.
Journal Article
Acute effects of passive stretching and vibration on the electro-mechanical delay and musculotendinous stiffness of the plantar flexors
Trent J. Herda,Eric D. Ryan,Pablo B. Costa,Ashley A. Walter,K M Hoge,B. P. Uribe,Jessica R. McLagan,Jeffery R. Stout,Joel T. Cramer +8 more
TL;DR: The present findings indicated that the stretching- and vibration-induced force deficits may have resulted in part from similar centrally-mediated neural deficits, while an elongation of the series elastic component may also have affected the stretching -induced force deficit.
Journal ArticleDOI
Medial gastrocnemius muscle stiffness cannot explain the increased ankle joint range of motion following passive stretching in children with cerebral palsy.
Barbara M. Kalkman,Lynn Bar-On,Francesco Cenni,Constantinos N. Maganaris,Alfie Bass,Gill Holmes,Kaat Desloovere,Gabor Barton,Thomas D. O'Brien +8 more
TL;DR: It is shown, for the first time, that passive muscle and tendon properties are not changed acutely after a single bout of stretching in children with cerebral palsy and, therefore, do not contribute to the increase in range of motion.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mechanomyogram amplitude correlates with human gastrocnemius medialis muscle and tendon stiffness both before and after acute passive stretching
TL;DR: The main findings are that the amplitude of the mechanomyogram was correlated inversely, albeit with small r2 values, with muscle–tendon unit, muscle and tendon stiffness both before and after application of stretching.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Functional and clinical significance of skeletal muscle architecture.
Richard L. Lieber,Jan Fridén +1 more
TL;DR: The basic architectural properties of human upper and lower extremity muscles are described and the ability of muscles to change their architecture in response to immobilization, eccentric exercise, and surgical tendon transfer is reviewed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Altered reflex sensitivity after repeated and prolonged passive muscle stretching
TL;DR: Evidence is presented that the mechanism that decreases the sensitivity of short-latency reflexes can be activated because of RPS, and the origin of this system seems to be a reduction in the activity of the large-diameter afferents, resulting from the reduced sensitivity of the muscle spindles to repeated stretch.
Journal ArticleDOI
Architectural and functional features of human triceps surae muscles during contraction
TL;DR: Different lengths and angles of fascicles, and their changes by contraction, might be related to differences in force-producing capabilities of the muscles and elastic characteristics of tendons and aponeuroses.
Journal ArticleDOI
Passive extensibility of skeletal muscle: review of the literature with clinical implications.
TL;DR: The purpose of this article was to review the literature on passive extensibility of skeletal muscle with reference to its anatomic and physiologic properties, mechanisms of adaptations and clinical implications, and to contribute to the development of new intervention strategies designed to promote the passive Muscle Extensibility that enhances total muscle function.
Journal ArticleDOI
In vivo human tendon mechanical properties.
TL;DR: Results are in agreement with previous reports on in vitro testing of isolated tendons and suggest that under physiological loading the TA tendon operates within the elastic ‘toe’ region.