Abstract:A muscle undergoing a cyclical lengthening and shortening contraction pattern requires fast and efficient muscle activation and relaxation. To boost activation rate and increase force levels during shortening, some muscles have evolved stretch activation (SA), a delayed increased in force following rapid muscle lengthening. Equally important is a fast relaxation rate and low force during muscle lengthening. If a muscle incompletely relaxes, its antagonist muscle expends more energy lengthening it, causing decr… Show more
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