Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Research Unit
The Neuromuscular Function Research Group
Team
leader: Assoc.
Prof. Michael Lambert and Dr.
Malcolm Collins
This group studies aspects
of muscle damage and regeneration that affects muscle function and has relevance
to fatigue and athletic performance. It focuses on 4 specific areas:
- Delayed
onset muscle soreness – mechanisms and preventive strategies.
The research of this group aims to determine the nature of the muscle damage
and mechanisms to prevent its development and lessen the effects once it
has occurred.
- Chronic
muscle damage in veteran athletes.
This research aims to establish the pathological basis for the condition
or “premature ageing” of skeletal muscle associated with excessive
exercise and focuses on histology, gross morphology, and neuromuscular control
of muscles in veteran athletes presenting with symptoms of chronic fatigue
and acquired training intolerance.
- Musculotendinous stiffness
Musculotendinous stiffness is a characteristic of muscle that determines
the ability of the muscle to absorb and resist external forces. This characteristic
is difficult to measure and therefore has not been studied in the context
of exercise performance. We have recently developed equipment in collaboration
with a commercial partner, which can measure musculotendinous stiffness.
The studies underway are investigating whether the age-related decline in
running performance results from the decreased ability of the locomotor
muscles to store elastic energy and convert this energy to mechanical work
during muscle contractions. Furthermore, the possibility that this loss
of elasticity in the muscle is a function of the accumulated stresses of
training and racing rather than of age has not been evaluated and will therefore
be investigated in this research.
- Neuromuscular control of muscle during exercise
Muscles that are stretched immediately before they contract, achieve a higher
performance. This effect is part of a neural reflex, the importance of which
has only recently been appreciated. Research of this group evaluates the
functioning of this reflex in conditions in which overall muscle performance
is impaired, for example, in muscles that are acutely or chronically damaged.
Selected research
areas:
- Musculotendinous stiffness
– contributions of activated muscle
- Shock absorption and
muscle damage
- The skeletal muscle
& neuromuscular changes associated with acquired training intolerance
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