ArticlePhysiological reports2013
Enhanced force production in old age is not a far stretch: an investigation of residual force enhancement and muscle architecture.
Article in Physiological reports, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Residual force enhancement in human skeletal muscles: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of sport and health science · 2022Pooled it
- Chronic and acute mediators of passive viscoelasticity in human skeletal muscle fibres.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Submaximal Eccentric Training During Immobilization Does Not Prevent Serial Sarcomere Loss or Impairments in Mechanical Function in Old or Young Rats.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 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
- Age-related differences in the loss and recovery of serial sarcomere number following disuse atrophy in rats.Skeletal muscle · 2024Article
- Ultrasonographic measurements of fascicle length overestimate adaptations in serial sarcomere number.Experimental physiology · 2023Article
- Eccentric exercise-induced muscle weakness amplifies the history dependence of force.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Article
- Residual force enhancement is affected more by quadriceps muscle length than stretch amplitude.eLife · 2022Article
- The effect of stretch-shortening magnitude and muscle-tendon unit length on performance enhancement in a stretch-shortening cycle.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Force enhancement in the human vastus lateralis is muscle-length-dependent following stretch but not during stretch.European journal of applied physiology · 2020Article
- Energy Cost of Force Production After a Stretch-Shortening Cycle in Skinned Muscle Fibers: Does Muscle Efficiency Increase?Frontiers in physiology · 2020Article
- Contribution of Stretch-Induced Force Enhancement to Increased Performance in Maximal Voluntary and Submaximal Artificially Activated Stretch-Shortening Muscle Action.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Article
- Article
- The Inhibitory Tendon-Evoked Reflex Is Increased in the Torque-Enhanced State Following Active Lengthening Compared to a Purely Isometric Contraction.Brain sciences · 2019Article
- Modifiability of the history dependence of force through chronic eccentric and concentric biased resistance training.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2019Article
- Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and Isoinertial Training on Leg Extensors Muscle Function, Structure, and Intermuscular Adipose Tissue in Older Adults.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
- Predictors of residual force enhancement in voluntary contractions of elbow flexors.Journal of sport and health science · 2018Article
- Article
- The effect of muscle length on transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced relaxation rate in the plantar flexors.Physiological reports · 2017Article
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4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In older adults, isometric force production is enhanced following a voluntary lengthening contraction when compared with isometric force produced at the same muscle length without a prior lengthening contraction. This phenomenon is termed residual force enhancement (RFE), and appears to be related to the age-related maintenance of eccentric (ECC) strength. However, it is unknown whether age-related changes in muscle architecture contribute to greater RFE at short and long muscle lengths in old age. Neuromuscular properties of the knee extensors were assessed on a HUMAC NORM dynamometer. Torque was examined in young (26 ± 3 year, n = 11) and old men (77 ± 6 year, n = 11) during brief maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVC) at 80° and 120° (180° representing full knee extension) and then compared with torque during a steady-state phase at the same joint angle following a maximal voluntary lengthening contraction at 30°/sec over a 60° joint excursion; either from 140 to 80° (long), or from 180 to 120° (short). Ultrasound images were obtained from the vastus lateralis during the isometric phase for each condition. When comparing the ECC torque with the MVC isometric torque, old men had 17% greater ECC:MVC ratios than young men, confirming an age-related maintenance of ECC strength. The extent of RFE was greater at long versus short but independent of age. At rest, old had shorter (∼18%) and less pennated (∼22%) fascicles. However, changes in fascicle length and pennation during contraction did not contribute to RFE in either group. Thus, age-related changes in muscle architecture may not contribute to RFE.
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