Increased muscle force does not induce greater stretch-induced damage to calf muscles during work-matched heel drop exercise.
Patricio A PincheiraDean L MayfieldAaron S FoxNicholas A T BrownTimothy J CarrollAndrew G CresswellGlen A LichtwarkPublished in: European journal of applied physiology (2023)
Adding 30% body weight during eccentric contractions has a modest impact on exercise-induced muscle damage in the medial gastrocnemius muscle. These results suggest that muscle load may not be an important determinant of stretch-induced muscle damage in the human MG muscle. The muscle investigated does exhibit large pennation angles and high series elastic compliance; architectural features that likely buffer muscle fibres against stretch and damage.