Atsuki Fukutani, a lecturer at the Faculty of Sport and Health Science, published a research manuscript in Physiological Reports in collaboration with Tadao Isaka (Professor in SHS), Walter Herzog (The University of Calgary).

Human performance is enhanced by countermovement. This phenomenon is called the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC). Until now, the mechanisms of SSC have been believed as the stretch reflex and tendon elongation. However, our group found that the SSC effect was also observed even when the influence of stretch reflex and tendon elongation was eliminated. We hypothesized that muscle cell-based mechanism(s) contribute to the SSC effect, and preactivation, residual force enhancement and cross-bridge are the possible candidates for the SSC effect. Therefore, we introduce and discuss how these factors contribute to the SSC effect in this review paper.

Atsuki Fukutani, Tadao Isaka, Walter Herzog (2021). Evidence for muscle cell-based mechanisms of enhanced performance in stretch-shortening cycle in skeletal muscle. Frontiers in Physiology. doi: doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.609553

Journal website:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.609553/full