ArticlePloS one2012
Increased residual force enhancement in older adults is associated with a maintenance of eccentric strength.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Residual force enhancement in human skeletal muscles: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of sport and health science · 2022Pooled it
- Stretch-shortening cycles mitigate single muscle fibre power deficits following a two-week immobilization of the rat hindlimb.Journal of muscle research and cell motility · 2026Article
- Body Composition and Muscle Performance and Muscle-Specific Strength in Adults: Age-Sex Related Findings and Rehabilitation Considerations.Journal of frailty, sarcopenia and falls · 2026Article
- Residual force enhancement following hindlimb unloading and exercise prehabilitation.Journal of muscle research and cell motility · 2025Article
- Residual force enhancement is not altered while force depression is amplified at the cellular level in old age.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- The effect of a prior eccentric lowering phase on concentric neuromechanics during multiple joint resistance exercise in older adults.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2023Article
- Skeletal muscle aging and sarcopenia: Perspectives from mechanical studies of single permeabilized muscle fibers.Journal of biomechanics · 2023Review
- Eccentric exercise-induced muscle weakness amplifies the history dependence of force.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Article
- Single skeletal muscle fiber mechanical properties: a muscle quality biomarker of human aging.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Review
- Motor unit contributions to activation reduction and torque steadiness following active lengthening: a study of residual torque enhancement.Journal of neurophysiology · 2020Article
- Microstructural analysis of skeletal muscle force generation during aging.International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering · 2020Article
- Current Understanding of Residual Force Enhancement: Cross-Bridge Component and Non-Cross-Bridge Component.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
- Modifiability of the history dependence of force through chronic eccentric and concentric biased resistance training.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2019Article
- The Effect of the Stretch-Shortening Cycle in the Force-Velocity Relationship and Its Association With Physical Function in Older Adults With COPD.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Article
- Activation reduction following an eccentric contraction impairs torque steadiness in the isometric steady-state.Journal of sport and health science · 2018Article
- Influence of Joint Angle on Residual Force Enhancement in Human Plantar Flexors.Frontiers in physiology · 2017Article
- Eccentric Exercise Program Design: A Periodization Model for Rehabilitation Applications.Frontiers in physiology · 2017Article
- Age-related maintenance of eccentric strength: a study of temperature dependence.Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2016Article
- The stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) revisited: residual force enhancement contributes to increased performance during fast SSCs of human m. adductor pollicis.Physiological reports · 2015Article
- The influence on sarcopenia of muscle quality and quantity derived from magnetic resonance imaging and neuromuscular properties.Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite an age-related loss of voluntary isometric and concentric strength, muscle strength is well maintained during lengthening muscle actions (i.e., eccentric strength) in old age. Additionally, in younger adults during lengthening of an activated skeletal muscle, the force level observed following the stretch is greater than the isometric force at the same muscle length. This feature is termed residual force enhancement (RFE) and is believed to be a combination of active and passive components of the contractile apparatus. The purpose of this study was to provide an initial assessment of RFE in older adults and utilize aging as a muscle model to explore RFE in a system in which isometric force production is compromised, but structural mechanisms of eccentric strength are well-maintained. Therefore, we hypothesised that older adults will experience greater RFE compared with young adults. Following a reference maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC) of the dorsiflexors in 10 young (26.1 ± 2.7 y) and 10 old (76.0 ± 6.5 y) men, an active stretch was performed at 15°/s over a 30° ankle joint excursion ending at the same muscle length as the reference MVCs (40° of plantar flexion). Any additional torque compared with the reference MVC therefore represented RFE. In older men RFE was ~2.5 times greater compared to young. The passive component of force enhancement contributed ~37% and ~20% to total force enhancement, in old and young respectively. The positive association (R(2) = 0.57) between maintained eccentric strength in old age and RFE indicates age-related mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of eccentric strength likely contributed to the observed elevated RFE. Additionally, as indicated by the greater passive force enhancement, these mechanisms may be related to increased muscle series elastic stiffness in old age.
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