Residual Force Enhancement in Context of Everyday Human Movement

When an active muscle is stretched, the resulting posteccentric steady-state force is known to be greater than the isometric force at the corresponding muscle length. The aim of our research was to clarify if residual force enhancement (RFE) is relevant for voluntary human muscle action in everyday like scenarios. Therefore 13 healthy subjects participated in our study and had to perform bilateral leg extensions using a motor-driven leg press dynamometer, measuring external reaction forces (Fext) as well as activity of 9 lower extremity muscles. In addition, ankle (Ma) and knee (Mk) joint torque were calculated using inverse dynamics. Subjects performed isometric and isometric-eccentric-isometric contractions (20° stretch, ω=60°/s) at 30% of maximum voluntary activation. Visual feedback of VL muscle activation was given to control submaximal muscle action. We did not find differences in VL activation level between contraction conditions and time points. Mean VL activity ranged between 29.1 ± 2.2% and 29.8±2.5% MVA. We found significantly enhanced Fext (p < 0.002) as well as joint torques in knee (p < 0.002) and ankle joint (p < 0.033) for all instances in time. In summary RFE seems to be relevant in everyday like human motion.