Estimation of the force-velocity properties of individual muscles from measurement of the combined plantarflexor properties

The force-velocity (F-V) properties of isolated muscles or muscle fibers have been well studied in humans and other animals. However, determining properties of individual muscles in vivo remains a challenge because muscles usually function within a synergistic group. Modeling has been used to estimate the properties of an individual muscle from the experimental measurement of the muscle group properties. While this approach can be valuable, the models and the associated predictions are difficult to validate. In this study, we measured the in situ F-V properties of the maximally activated kangaroo rat plantarflexor group and used two different assumptions and associated models to estimate the properties of the individual plantarflexors. The first model (Mdl1) assumed that the percent contributions of individual muscles to group force and power were based upon the muscles’ cross-sectional areas and were constant across the different isotonic loads applied to the muscle group. The second model (Mdl2) assumed that the F-V properties of the fibers within each muscle were identical, but due to differences in muscle architecture, the muscles’ contributions to the group properties changed with isotonic load. We compared the two model predictions to independent estimates of the muscles’ contributions based upon sonomicrometry (SONO) measurements of muscle lengths. We found that predictions from Mdl2 were not significantly different from SONO based estimates while those from Mdl1 were significantly different. The results of this study show that incorporating appropriate fiber properties and muscle architecture is necessary to parse the individual muscles’ contributions to the group F-V properties.