Summary
The effect of muscle dimensions on economy (force-time integral divided by the amount of energy utilized) was investigated in male rats (body mass range 95–490 g), anaesthetized with pentobarbital. The medial gastrocnemius muscle in situ performed 6 maximal isometric contractions of 350 ms duration (1 · s−1) at twitch optimum length at 35°C. The areas under the 6 time-force curves were added to obtain force-time integral of the experiment. Differences of concentrations of ATP, phosphocreatine and lactate between experimental and contralateral (resting) muscles were used to calculate high-energy phosphate consumption due to stimulation. Muscle mass and cross-sectional area increased (approximately +400% and +300%, respectively) over the rat body mass range studied. Muscle length and length of the most distal fibre bundle increased by approximately 17 mm and 4 mm, respectively. Force-time integral (N · s) increased proportional to cross-sectional area whereas high-energy phosphate consumption (μmoles) increased proportional to muscle mass. The relative fraction of the total energy consumption utilized for force-independent processes was independent of rat body mass. The economy of the actomyosin system was unaffected during growth, whereas economy of the whole muscle decreased during growth by approximately 30% (p<0.001). The effect of muscle dimensions on economy is discussed with respect to human endurance capacity measured by voluntary isometric contractions.
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de Haan, A., Rexwinkel, R., van Doorn, J.E. et al. Influence of muscle dimensions on economy of isometric exercise in rat medial gastrocnemius muscles in situ. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 57, 64–69 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00691240
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00691240