Muscle‐tendon morphology and function following long‐term exposure to repeated and strenuous mechanical loading
Year of publication
2020
Authors
Bissas, Athanassios; Havenetidis, Konstantinos; Walker, Josh; Hanley, Brian; Nicholson, Gareth; Metaxas, Thomas; Christoulas, Kosmas; Cronin, Neil J.
Abstract
We mapped structural and functional characteristics of muscle‐tendon units in a population exposed to very long‐term routine overloading. Twenty‐eight military academy cadets (age: 21.00 ± 1.1 yrs; height: 176.1 ± 4.8 cm; mass: 73.8 ± 7.0 kg) exposed for over 24 months to repetitive overloading were profiled via ultrasonography with a senior subgroup of them (n = 11; age = 21.4 ± 1.0 yrs; height = 176.5 ± 4.8 cm; mass = 71.4 ± 6.6 kg) also tested while walking and marching on a treadmill. A group of eleven ethnicity‐ and aged‐matched civilians (age = 21.6 ± 0.7 yrs; height = 176.8 ± 4.3 cm; mass = 74.6 ± 5.6 kg) was also profiled and tested. Cadets and civilians exhibited similar morphology (muscle and tendon thickness and cross‐sectional area, pennation angle, fascicle length) in 26 out of 29 sites including the Achilles tendon. However, patellar tendon thickness along the entire tendon was greater (p<0.05) by a mean of 16% for the senior cadets compared with civilians. Dynamically, cadets showed significantly smaller ranges of fascicle length change and lower shortening velocity in medial gastrocnemius during walking (44.0% and 47.6%, p<0.05 ‐ 0.01) and marching (27.5% and 34.3%, p<0.05 ‐ 0.01) than civilians. Furthermore, cadets showed lower normalised soleus electrical activity during walking (22.7%, p<0.05) and marching (27.0%, p<0.05). Therefore, 24‐36 months of continuous overloading, primarily occurring under aerobic conditions, leads to more efficient neural and mechanical behaviour in the triceps surae complex, without any major macroscopic alterations in key anatomical structures.
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Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Publisher
Volume
30
Issue
7
Pages
1151-1162
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
2
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
Yes
Open access of publication channel
Partially open publication channel
Self-archived
Yes
Other information
Fields of science
Sport and fitness sciences
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publication country
United Kingdom
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
Yes
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1111/sms.13669
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes