Neural and Muscular Contributions to the Age-Related Reductions in Rapid Strength

Introduction: The purposes of this study were to investigate the age-related differences in absolute and normalized plantarflexion rate of torque development (RTD) at early (0–50 ms) and late (100–200 ms) time intervals and to examine specific neural and muscular mechanisms contributing to these differences. Methods: Thirty-two young (20.0 ± 2.1 yr) and 20 older (69.5 ± 3.3 yr) recreationally active men performed rapid plantarflexion isometric muscle actions to examine absolute and normalized RTD and muscle activation using EMG at early and late time intervals. Ultrasonography was used to examine medial gastrocnemius muscle size, echo intensity (EI), and muscle architecture (fascicle length [FL] and pennation angle [PA]). Results: The older men were weaker (23.9%, P

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