Physiological and Biomechanical Responses to Prolonged Heavy Load Carriage During Level Treadmill Walking in Females.

Heavy load carriage has been identified as a main contributing factor to the high incidence of overuse injuries in soldiers. Peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) and maximal vertical loading rates (VLR) may increase during heavy prolonged load carriage with the development of muscular fatigue and reduced shock attenuation capabilities. The objectives of the current study were (1) to examine physiological and biomechanical changes that occur during a prolonged heavy load carriage task, and (2) to examine if this task induces neuromuscular fatigue and changes in muscle architecture.

Medial gastrocnemius muscle-tendon interaction and architecture change during exhaustive hopping exercise.

Background: Previous literature has shown in vivo changes in muscle-tendon interaction during exhaustive stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) exercise. It is unclear whether these changes in muscle-tendon length during exhaustive SSC exercise are associated with changes in mechanical efficiency (ME). The purpose of the study was to investigate whether changes in platarflexor contractile component (CC) length, tendon length, and changes in plantarflexor muscle activity could explain reduction in ME during exhaustive SSC exercise.