Abstract
Increased muscle force during stretch‐shortening cycles (SSCs) has been widely examined. However, the mechanisms causing increased muscle force in SSCs remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of residual force enhancement and elongation of attached cross‐bridges on the work enhancement in SSCs. For the Control condition, skinned rabbit soleus fibers were elongated passively from an average sarcomere length of 2.4 to 3.0 μm, activated and then actively shortened to 2.4 μm. For the Transition condition, fibers were elongated actively from an average sarcomere length of 2.4 to 3.0 μm. Two seconds after the end of active lengthening, fibers were actively shortened to 2.4 μm. In the SSC condition, fibers were lengthened actively from an average sarcomere length of 2.4 to 3.0 μm, and then immediately shortened actively to 2.4 μm. Increased muscle force in the SSCs was quantified by the increase in mechanical work during active shortening compared to the mechanical work measured during the purely active shortening contractions. Work enhancement was significantly greater in the SSC compared to the Transition conditions. This difference was associated with the pause given between the active lengthening and shortening phase in the Transition test, which likely resulted in a reduction of the average elongation of the attached cross‐bridges caused by active stretching. Since some work enhancement was still observed in the Transition condition, another factor, for example the stretch‐induced residual force enhancement, must also have contributed to the work enhancement in SSCs.
Highlights
For a given level of activation, a muscle’s force depends on its instantaneous length (Edman 1966; Gordon et al 1966), shortening/lengthening velocity (Gasser and Hill 1924; Hill 1938), and contractile history (Abbott and Aubert 1952)
Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society
Mechanical work was greater in the stretch-shortening cycles (SSCs) condition than in the Transition condition
Summary
For a given level of activation, a muscle’s force depends on its instantaneous length (Edman 1966; Gordon et al 1966), shortening/lengthening velocity (Gasser and Hill 1924; Hill 1938), and contractile history (Abbott and Aubert 1952). The steady-state isometric force after active shortening is smaller while the isometric force after active lengthening is greater than that attained in a purely isometric contraction at the corresponding length and activation (Abbott and Aubert 1952). This history dependence of active force production is referred to a 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society The force enhancement property might be expected to contribute to the work enhancement observed in stretch-shortening cycles (SSCs) (Cavagna et al 1968; Bosco et al 1982)
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