Acute effects of static stretching on the shear elastic moduli of the medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles in young and elderly women

Background: The midsole is an essential assembly of footwear for retaining the shape of the shoe, delivering support to the foot, and serving as a cushioning and stability device for walking. To improve leg muscle balance and muscle co-contraction, we propose a new midsole design for high heels with different hardness levels at the forefoot region. Methods: Five healthy women participated in the study, with a mean ± SD age of 21.80 ± 4.09 years, and duration of high-heeled shoe wear of 5.20 ± 4.09 years. Two midsole conditions, control and multiple-hardness midsole (MHM), with heel heights of 2 (flat), 5, and 8 cm were used. The main outcome measures were to examine the acute effects of MHM by electromyography on muscle activity balance and co-contraction at varying heel heights during shuttle walk. Results: Use of the MHM significantly reduced the muscle activity ratio between the medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles (P = .043) during push-off to heel strike with a heel height of 5 cm (−22.74%) and heel strike to midstance with a heel height of 8 cm (−22.26%). The increased co-contraction indices of the tibialis anterior–peroneus longus muscles (14.35% with an 8-cm heel height) and tibialis anterior–soleus muscles (15.18% with a 5-cm heel height) are significant (P = .043), with a large effect size (d = 0.8). Conclusions: These results deliver important implications in advancing the engineering of MHM design without changing the in-shoe volume to enhance leg muscle balance and co-contraction during walking.

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Comparison of the Acute Effects of Hold-Relax and Static Stretching among Older Adults

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology10020126 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 126

Author(s):

Masatoshi Nakamura ◽

Shigeru Sato ◽

Ryosuke Kiyono ◽

Kaoru Yahata ◽

Riku Yoshida ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Multivariate Analysis ◽

Significant Interaction ◽

Elderly Women ◽

Muscle Stiffness ◽

Static Stretching ◽

Acute Effects ◽

Significant Interaction Effect ◽

Age Related ◽

Post Hoc

Various stretching techniques are generally recommended to counteract age-related declines in range of motion (ROM) and/or increased muscle stiffness. However, to date, an effective stretching technique has not yet been established for older adults. Consequently, we compared the acute effects of hold relax stretching (HRS) and static stretching (SS) on dorsiflexion (DF) ROM and muscle stiffness among older adults. Overall, 15 elderly men and nine elderly women (70.2 ± 3.9 years, 160.8 ± 7.8 cm, 59.6 ± 9.7 kg) were enrolled, and both legs were randomized to either HRS or SS stretching. We measured DF ROM and muscle stiffness using a dynamometer and ultrasonography before and after 120 s of HRS or SS interventions. Our multivariate analysis indicated no significant interaction effects, but a main effect for DF ROM. Post-hoc tests revealed that DF ROM was increased after both HRS and SS interventions. Moreover, multivariate analysis showed a significant interaction effect for muscle stiffness. Post-hoc tests revealed that muscle stiffness was decreased significantly after only SS intervention. Taken together, our results indicated that both HRS and SS interventions are recommended to increase ROM, and SS is recommended to decrease muscle stiffness in older adults.

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Acute effects of different durations of static stretching on the eccentric strength and power of leg flexor muscles

Isokinetics and Exercise Science ◽

10.3233/ies-171187 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 43-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matúš Krčmár ◽

Zuzana Xaverová ◽

Michal Lehnert ◽

Bohumila Krčmárová ◽

Jaromír Šimonek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Static Stretching ◽

Acute Effects ◽

Flexor Muscles

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Role of plasma epinephrine in fasted exercising rats

AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpregu.1985.248.3.r302 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 248 (3) ◽

pp. R302-R307 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

W. W. Winder ◽

M. L. Terry ◽

V. M. Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Physiological Role ◽

Quadriceps Muscle ◽

Type I ◽

Type Ii ◽

Plasma Epinephrine ◽

Lateral Gastrocnemius ◽

White Region ◽

Gastrocnemius Muscles ◽

Fast Twitch

We have investigated the physiological role of the marked increase in plasma epinephrine that occurs in fasted exercising rats. Fasted adrenodemedullated (ADM) rats show a marked reduction in endurance run times compared with sham-operated (SO) controls. After running for 30 min at 21 m/min up a 10% grade, ADM rats' blood glucose was 2.9 +/- 0.1 mM vs. 4.3 +/- 0.2 mM in SO rats. At the same time, blood lactate was 3.0 +/- 0.2 mM in SO rats compared with 1.0 +/- 0.1 mM in ADM rats. Glycogenolysis was impaired in ADM rats in the fast-twitch white region of the quadriceps, lateral gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles but not in the fast-twitch red region of the quadriceps muscle. Hepatic adenosine 3',-5'-cyclic monophosphate was increased to the same extent in ADM and SO rats during exercise. Infusion of epinephrine into ADM rats during exercise corrected the hypoglycemia, restored lactate to normal, and stimulated glycogenolysis in soleus, white quadriceps, and lateral gastrocnemius muscles. Epinephrine-dependent glycogenolysis in contracting type I and noncontracting type II muscle fibers apparently provides essential quantities of lactate for hepatic gluconeogenesis in fasted exercising rats.

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Histomorphometric Evaluation of Soleus and Lateral Gastrocnemius Muscles of Animals Submitted to Pharmacological Manipulation with Fluoxetine

International Journal of Morphology ◽

10.4067/s0717-95022014000300001 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 751-755 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vitor Caiaffo ◽

Alice Sá Carneiro Ribeiro ◽

Belisa Duarte Ribeiro de Oliveira ◽

Yuri Mateus Lima de Albuquerque ◽

Silvia Regina Arruda de Moraes

Keyword(s):

Lateral Gastrocnemius ◽

Pharmacological Manipulation ◽

Gastrocnemius Muscles

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The Acute Effects of Dynamic and Static Stretching on Tennis Serve Targeting Performance

Journal of Education and Training Studies ◽

10.11114/jets.v7i4.4058 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 123

Author(s):

Bulent Turna ◽

Asuman Sahan ◽

Bahar Yilmaz

Keyword(s):

Wilcoxon Test ◽

Static Stretching ◽

Acute Effects ◽

Warm Up ◽

Dynamic Stretching ◽

Paired Samples ◽

Tennis Serve ◽

Playing Time ◽

Homogeneous Data ◽

Stretching Exercises

The study investigates the acute effects of dynamic and static stretching on the tennis serve targeting performance of amateur tennis players. Twenty male athletes who were between the ages of 16-24 years and played tennis for at least 1 year (21.40±2.16 years, 181±0.06 cm, 71.85±7.42 kg, tennis playing time 1.55±0.88 years) voluntarily participated in the study.Prior to the pre-tests and after applying the traditional warm-up protocol, serve targeting test (STT) was applied to all participants. In the post-tests, STT was used after applying three different warm-up methods on three different days (48-hour rest interval). The warm-up stages included No Treatment (NT) (jogging, rally), Static Stretching (SS) and Dynamic Stretching (DS).In the statistical analysis, the homogeneity of the data was investigated using the Shapiro Wilk test. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare the pre-test and post-test results of the non-homogeneous data; Friedman test was used to compare the three different stretching methods with each other; in the paired comparisons of the groups, the paired samples t-test was used for the homogenous data and Wilcoxon test was used for the non-homogeneous data. In conclusion, stretching exercises before serving increased the serve targeting performance and the increase in the dynamic stretching exercises was higher than that in static stretching exercises.

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Dry needling of the gastrocnemius muscle. Overlap between trigger point area and the presence of blood vessels

Revista Fisioterapia Invasiva ◽

10.1055/s-0039-3401854 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 02 (02) ◽

pp. 063-063

Author(s):

Velasco Fernández P. ◽

Valera Garrido F.

Keyword(s):

Blood Vessels ◽

Gastrocnemius Muscle ◽

Trigger Point ◽

Trigger Points ◽

Medial Gastrocnemius ◽

Dry Needling ◽

Lateral Gastrocnemius ◽

Myofascial Trigger Points ◽

Gastrocnemius Muscles ◽

Venous Pattern

Abstract Aims To evaluate the anatomic variability of the gastrocnemius venous system using ultrasound and the overlap of the same with myofascial trigger points (MTrPs 1 and 2) clinically located in this muscle. Material and Methods In total, 82 legs of 41 healthy adults were studied, belonging to 26 men and 15 women aged between 22 and 50 years. The blood vessels located below MTrP1 and MTrP2, described by Travell and Simons were observed, and each image was analyzed by sectors (medial, central and lateral) to quantify the number of blood vessels, their distribution and overlap with the MTrPs described at this level. Results Examination of the 164 heads of 82 gastrocnemius muscles revealed that at least one vessel exists for each section analyzed. The number of veins per head varied between 1 and 8. The most common pattern in the medial gastrocnemius was three vessels (41.5%) and two vessels (49%) in the lateral gastrocnemius. In 100% of the cases the localization of the veins coincided with the clinical localization of the MTrPs. Conclusions The venous pattern of the proximal gastrocnemius is highly variable among subjects regarding the number of blood vessels and their distribution. There is a complete overlap between the clinical localization of the gastrocnemius MTrPs and the presence of blood vessels.

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