Interactions between fascicles and tendinous tissues in gastrocnemius medialis and vastus lateralis during drop landing

Abstract Animal tendons have been shown to act as shock absorbers to protect muscle fascicles from exercise‐induced damage during landing tasks. Meanwhile, the contribution of tendinous tissues to damping activities such as landing has been less explored in humans. The aim of this study was to analyze in vivo fascicle‐tendon interactions during drop landing to better understand their role in energy dissipation. Ultrafast ultrasound images of the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and vastus lateralis (VL), lower limb electromyographic activity, 2‐D kinematics, and ground reaction forces were collected from twelve participants during single‐ and double‐leg drop landings from various heights. For both muscles, length changes were higher in tendinous tissues than in fascicles, demonstrating their key role in protecting fascicles from rapid active lengthening. Increasing landing height increased lengthening and peak lengthening velocity of VL fascicle and GM architectural gear ratio, whereas GM fascicle displayed similar length and velocity patterns. Single‐leg landing lengthens the tendinous tissues of GM and, to a greater degree, VL muscles, without affecting the fascicles. These findings demonstrate the adjustment in fascicle‐tendon interactions to withstand mechanical demand through the tendon buffer action and fascicle rotation. The higher VL fascicle contribution to negative work as the drop height increases would suggest muscle‐specific damping responses during drop landing. This can originate from the distal‐to‐proximal sequence of joint kinetics, from differences in muscle and tendon functions (one‐ and two‐joint muscles), architectural and morphological properties (eg, tendon stiffness), as well as from the muscle activity of the GM and VL muscles.