Acute effects of resistance training at different range of motions on plantar flexion mechanical properties and force

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Yuta Murakami
  • Andreas Konrad
  • Kazuki Kasahara
  • Riku Yoshida
  • Konstantin Warneke
  • David G. Behm
  • Masatoshi Nakamura

The effects obtained from resistance training depend on the exercise range of motion (ROM) performed. We aimed to examine the acute effects of different exercise ROM resistance training on the plantar flexor muscles. Eighteen healthy untrained male adults participated in three conditions: calf raises in 1) partial condition [final (short muscle length) partial ROM], 2) full condition (full ROM), and 3) control condition. The ankle dorsiflexion (DF) ROM, passive torque at DF ROM, passive stiffness of muscle-tendon unit, and maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC-ISO) torque were measured before and immediately after the interventions. There were significant increases in DF ROM, passive torque at DF ROM, and a decrease in MVC-ISO, but no significant interaction in passive stiffness. Post hoc test, DF ROM demonstrated moderate magnitude increases in the full condition compared to the partial (p = 0.023, d = 0.74) and control (p = 0.003, d = 0.71) conditions. Passive torque at DF ROM also showed moderate magnitude increases in the full condition compared to the control condition (p = 0.016, d = 0.69). MVC-ISO had a moderate magnitude decrease in the full condition compared to the control condition (p = 0.018, d=−0.53). Resistance training in the full ROM acutely increases joint ROM to a greater extent than final partial ROM, most likely due to stretch tolerance.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Sports Sciences
Volume42
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)38-45
Number of pages8
ISSN0264-0414
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI with grant number [19K19890] (Masatoshi Nakamura) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project [J4484] (Andreas Konrad).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

    Research areas

  • Flexibility, maximal voluntary isometric contraction, passive stiffness, passive torque, stretch tolerance
  • Physical education and sports