The influence of training-induced sarcomerogenesis on the history dependence of force

The increase or decrease in isometric force following active muscle lengthening or shortening, relative to a reference isometric contraction at the same muscle length and level of activation, are referred to as residual force enhancement (rFE) and residual force depression (rFD), respectively. The purpose of these experiments was to gain further mechanistic insight into the trainability of rFE and rFD, on the basis of serial sarcomere number (SSN) alterations to length-dependent properties. Maximal rFE/rFD measures from the soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) of rats were compared after 4 weeks of uphill/downhill running and a no running control. Serial sarcomere numbers adapted to the training: soleus serial sarcomere number was greater with downhill compared to uphill running, while EDL demonstrated a trend towards more serial sarcomeres for downhill compared to no running. In contrast, absolute and normalized rFE/rFD did not differ across training groups for either muscle. As such, it appears that training-induced SSN adaptations do not modify rFE/rFD at the whole-muscle level. Summary Statement The addition and subtraction of serial sarcomeres induced by downhill and uphill running, respectively, did not influence the magnitude of stretch-induced force enhancement and shortening-induced force depression.