Muscle and tendon adaptations to moderate load eccentric vs. concentric resistance exercise in young and older males

Quinlan, Jonathan Iain; Franchi, Martino Vladimiro; Gharahdaghi, Nima; Badiali, Francesca; Francis, Susan; Hale, Andrew; Phillips, Bethan Eileen; Szewczyk, Nathaniel; Greenhaff, Paul Leonard; Smith, Kenneth; Maganaris, Constantinos; Atherton, Phillip James; Narici, Marco Vincenzo

Abstract

Resistance exercise training (RET) is well-known to counteract negative age-related changes in both muscle and tendon tissue. Traditional RET consists of both concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) contractions; nevertheless, isolated ECC contractions are metabolically less demanding and, thus, may be more suitable for older populations. However, whether submaximal (60% 1RM) CON or ECC contractions differ in their effectiveness is relatively unknown. Further, whether the time course of muscle and tendon adaptations differs to the above is also unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to establish the time course of muscle and tendon adaptations to submaximal CON and ECC RET. Twenty healthy young (24.5 ± 5.1years) and 17 older males (68.1 ± 2.4years) were randomly allocated to either isolated CON or ECC RET which took place 3/week for 8weeks. Tendon biomechanical properties, muscle architecture and maximal voluntary contraction were assessed every 2weeks and quadriceps muscle volume every 4weeks. Positive changes in tendon Young’s modulus were observed after 4weeks in all groups after which adaptations in young males plateaued but continued to increase in older males, suggesting a dampened rate of adaptation with age. However, both CON and ECC resulted in similar overall changes in tendon Young’s modulus, in all groups. Muscle hypertrophy and strength increases were similar between CON and ECC in all groups. However, pennation angle increases were greater in CON, and fascicle length changes were greater in ECC. Notably, muscle and tendon adaptations appeared to occur in synergy, presumably to maintain the efficacy of the muscle–tendon unit.

Citation

Quinlan, J. I., Franchi, M. V., Gharahdaghi, N., Badiali, F., Francis, S., Hale, A., Phillips, B. E., Szewczyk, N., Greenhaff, P. L., Smith, K., Maganaris, C., Atherton, P. J., & Narici, M. V. (2021). Muscle and tendon adaptations to moderate load eccentric vs. concentric resistance exercise in young and older males. GeroScience, 43(4), 1567-1584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00396-0

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 27, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 1, 2021
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jul 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 16, 2021
• Journal: GeroScience
• Print ISSN: 2509-2715
• Electronic ISSN: 2509-2723
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1567-1584
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00396-0
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5787937
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-021-00396-0