The effects of cyclic stretching on tensile properties of the rabbit's skeletal muscle

A study was conducted to define the threshold of muscle injury with cyclic passive stretch. The study monitored the changes in the load-deformation curve of muscle-tendon unit until failure point using an in vitro rabbit model. Thirty rabbits' triceps surae muscle-tendon unit preparations were used. Comparisons were made between the load-deformation curves of the experimental and control specimens. When cyclic stretched to 12 to 20%, there were no significant changes in the biomechanical parameters except deformation at the peak load. All the biomechanical parameters, except the ration of the energy absorption, changed significantly after 25% strain cyclic stretch.