• Bruno Manfredini Baroni, Jeam Marcel Geremia, Rodrigo Rodrigues, Rodrigo De Azevedo Franke, Kiros Karamanidis, and Marco Aurélio Vaz.
• Exercise Research Laboratory, School of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
• Muscle Nerve. 2013 Oct 1; 48 (4): 498-506.

IntroductionChanges in muscle architecture induced by eccentric knee extensor training remain unclear, as well the adaptive responses of synergistic knee extensor muscles with different geometrical designs.MethodsUltrasonography images were taken from rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) of 20 male volunteers before and after a non-training control period of 4 weeks, and additional evaluations were performed after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of isokinetic eccentric training.ResultsRF and VL had significant changes in muscle architecture within the first 4 training weeks, and the adaptive response throughout the intervention was similar. Muscle thickness increased by around 7-10%, fascicle length increased 17-19%, and pennation angle was unchanged.ConclusionsIncreased muscle thickness due to eccentric training was related to increased fascicle length and not to pennation angle changes. Although RF and VL have a different fascicular geometry, they had similar morphological adaptations to eccentric training.Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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