The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a single static, ballistic, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching exercise on the various muscle-tendon parameters of the lower leg and to detect possible differences in the effects between the methods. Volunteers (n = 122) were randomly divided into static, ballistic, and PNF stretching groups and a control g...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of repeated contractions on the geometry of human skeletal muscle. Six men performed two sets (sets A and B) of 10 repeated isometric plantarflexion contractions at 80% of the moment generated during plantarflexion maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), with a rest interval of 15 min between sets. By use of ultrasound, the geometry of the medial...

of Thesis entitled Musculotendon Modeling of the Elbow Joint for Unimpaired Subjects and Persons after Stroke using Noninvasive and In Vivo Information submitted by Li Le for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in March 2007 Neuromusculoskeletal modeling provides insights into the muscular system which are not always obtained through experiment or observat...

Purpose: To investigate the effect of single session Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) over the ankle plantar flexor muscles on the spasticity, muscle architecture, and gait in chronic stroke patients. Methods: This quasi-experimental, single group study had a repeated measures design. A total of 17 post-stroke patients were selected by convenience sampling method, and received 2000 sho...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a 6-wk ballistic stretching training program on various parameters of the human gastrocnemius medialis muscle and the Achilles tendon. It is known that ballistic stretching is an appropriate means of increasing the range of motion (RoM), but information in the literature about the mechanical adaptation of the muscle-tendon unit (MTU)...

We examined the effects of a 12-week program of Nordic hamstring exercises (NHE), administered before or after football training, upon eccentric hamstring strength, muscle activity, and architectural adaptations. Amateur soccer players were randomized into three groups. The control group (CON; n=11) undertook core stability exercises, whereas a periodized NHE program was delivered either before...

One report found that visualization of tractography of the soleus muscle tended to be poorer in males than in females (1) This report also suggested that this sex difference in visualization resulted from differences in the size and variations in the pennation angle. Therefore, we concluded that there was a limitation to perfect visualization of muscles with a large and variable angle of pennat...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between muscle fascicle length and sprint running performance in 37 male 100-m sprinters. The sample was divided into two performance groups by the personal-best 100-m time: 10.00-10.90 s (S10; n = 22) and 11.00-11.70 s (S11; n = 15). Muscle thickness and fascicle pennation angle of the vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius medialis and...