Evidence for intermuscle difference in postactivation potentiation in the human triceps surae: A mechanomyographic study

This study compared the postactivation potentiation of the medial gastrocnemius (MG) and soleus muscles by using mechanomyography (MMG). Twitch responses were evoked by stimulating the posterior tibial nerve with supramaximal intensity before and after a 10-s maximal voluntary plantar flexion, and potentiation of each muscle was evaluated by peak-to-peak amplitude of the MMG signal. The MG showed greater potentiation than the soleus, reflecting the reported fiber type composition of these muscles. This result points to the possibility that one can delineate contrasting responses of synergist muscles to postactivation potentiation by this method. Muscle Nerve 39: 703-706, 2009.