Aging Does Not Alter Ankle, Muscle, and Tendon Stiffness at Low Loads Relevant to Stance.

ABSTRACT: Older adults have difficulty maintaining balance when faced with postural disturbances, a task that is influenced by the stiffness of the triceps surae and Achilles tendon. Age-related changes in Achilles tendon stiffness have been reported at matched levels of effort, but measures typically have not been made at matched loads, which is important due to age-dependent changes in strength. Moreover, there has been limited investigation into age-dependent changes in muscle stiffness. Here, we investigate how age alters muscle and tendon stiffness and their influence on ankle stiffness. We hypothesized that age-related changes in muscle and tendon contribute to reduced ankle stiffness in older adults and evaluated this hypothesis when either load or effort were matched. We used B-mode ultrasou

SUBMITTER: Jakubowski KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11647747 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature