Respiratory muscle training positively affects vasomotor response in young healthy women.

Vasomotor response is related to the capacity of the vessel to maintain vascular tone within a narrow range. Two main control mechanisms are involved: the autonomic control of the sympathetic neural drive (global control) and the endothelial smooth cells capacity to respond to mechanical stress by releasing vasoactive factors (peripheral control). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on vasomotor response, assessed by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and heart rate variability, in young healthy females.

Correlation between stiffness and electromechanical delay components during muscle contraction and relaxation before and after static stretching.

The study was aimed at assessing possible correlations of the electromechanical delay components during muscle contraction (Delay) and relaxation (R-Delay), with muscle-tendon unit (MTU), muscle, and tendon stiffness before and after static stretching (SS). Plantarflexor muscles' maximum voluntary torque (T) was measured in 18 male participants (age 24±3yrs; body mass 76.4±8.

Central and peripheral responses to static and dynamic stretch of skeletal muscle: mechano- and metaboreflex implications.

Unlabelled: Passive static stretching (SS), circulatory cuff occlusion (CCO), and the combination of both (SS + CCO) have been used to investigate the mechano- and metaboreflex, respectively. However, the effects of dynamic stretching (DS) alone or in combination with CCO (DS + CCO) on the same reflexes have never been explored. The aim of the study was to compare central and peripheral hemodynamic responses to DS, SS, DS + CCO, and SS + CCO.

Stretch-induced changes in tension generation process and stiffness are not accompanied by alterations in muscle architecture of the middle and distal portions of the two gastrocnemii.

The study aimed to evaluate the stretch-induced changes in muscle architecture in different portions of the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and lateralis (GL) muscles. The reliability and sensitivity of the measurements were also assessed. Fascicle length (FL) and pennation angle (PA) were calculated in the middle and distal portions of GM and GL at 0°, 10° and 20° of ankle dorsiflexion.

Mechanomyogram amplitude correlates with human gastrocnemius medialis muscle and tendon stiffness both before and after acute passive stretching.

The study aimed to assess the level of correlation between muscle-tendon unit (MTU) stiffness and mechanomyogram (MMG) signal amplitude of the human gastrocnemius medialis muscle, both before and after acute passive stretching. The passive torque (Tpass), electrically evoked peak torque (pT) and myotendinous junction displacement were determined at different angles of dorsiflexion (0, 10 and 20 deg), while maximum voluntary isometric torque (Tmax) was assessed only at 0 deg. Measurements were repeated after a bout of passive stretching.