The use of orthotic heel lifts is proposed in many cases of Achilles tendon disorders as a first-line or conservative treatment. The use of heeled shoes induces a plantar flexion of the ankle joint with a consequent decrease in the tension forces acting onto the triceps surae. The question to address is how high must the heel be? Gait cycle using 1 cm- and 2 cm-high heel lifts was examined. Eac...

OBJECTIVE To examine the test-retest reliability of a protocol using an apparatus designed to standardise the standing heel rise test for the triceps surae muscle. SUBJECTS 40 healthy subjects volunteered to test short and medium term test-retest reliability (group SM, median age 24 years), and a convenience sample of 38 subjects with a history of unilateral deep vein thrombosis (DVT) volunte...

BACKGROUND In overwork weakness (OW), muscles are increasingly weakened by exercise, work or daily activities. Although it is a well-established phenomenon in several neuromuscular disorders, it is debated whether it occurs in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). Dominant limb muscles undergo a heavier overload than non-dominant and therefore if OW occurs we would expect them to become weaker. Fo...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine whether changes in muscle synergy could affect gait stability or muscle activity by comparing muscle activity before and after prolonged walking. [Subjects and Methods] Twelve healthy male subjects walked on a treadmill for 10 min as a warm-up. Data were recorded from the participants during the first and last 1 min during 90 min of walking at ...

The present study aimed to test if a long-term passive stretching training causes adaptations of the medial gastrocnemius architecture and Achilles tendon (AT) tangent modulus. A total 20 males took part in study. group (n = 12), performed exercises for plantar flexors 10 weeks, 4–5 times week, which comprised two static positions sustained twice each during 30 s. For group, maximum dorsiflexio...

Gastrocnemius-soleus equinus (GSE) is a foot-ankle complaint in which the extensibility of the gastrocnemius (G) and soleus muscles (triceps surae) and ankle are limited to a dorsiflexion beyond a neutral ankle position. The asymmetric forces of leg muscles and the associated asymmetric loading forces might promote major activation of the triceps surae, tibialis anterior, transverses abdominal ...

We directly measured cardiac vagal efferent nerve activity (CVNA) and cardiac sympathetic efferent nerve activity (CSNA) in cats decerebrated at the level of the precollicular-premammillary body while the hindlimb or the triceps surae muscle was passively stretched. CVNA gradually decreased during passive stretch of the hindlimb, and this decrease was sustained throughout the stretch. CSNA incr...

Cerebral palsy (CP) may lead to profound weakness in affected portions of the extremities and trunk. Knowing the mechanisms underlying muscle weakness will help to better design interventions for increasing force production in children with CP. This study quantified voluntary muscle activation, contractile properties, and fatigability of the quadriceps femoris and triceps surae in children with...

Clonus is involuntary and rhythmic muscle contractions caused by a permanent lesion in descending motor neurons. Clonus may be found at the ankle, patella, triceps surae, wrist, jaw, biceps brachii. In general, clonus may occur in any muscle with a frequency of 5-8 Hz and the average period of oscillations of the ankle clonus is approximately 160-200 ms. Plantar flexion (PF) comprises 45% of th...

Muscle fascicles curve along their length, with the curvatures occurring around regions of high intramuscular pressure, and are necessary for mechanical stability. Fascicles are typically considered to lie in fascicle planes that are the planes visualized during dissection or two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound scans. However, it has previously been predicted that fascicles must curve in three-dime...