https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2020.8982

Increase of resting muscle stiffness, a less considered component of age-related skeletal muscle impairment

Vol. 30 No. 2 (2020)
Submitted: 25 March 2020
Accepted: 6 April 2020
Published: 17 June 2020
Joint mobility, muscle stiffness, aging, connective tissue, modeling
Abstract Views: 1060
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Authors

Lorenzo Marcucci
lorenzo.marcucci@unipd.it
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9542-4417
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Padova University, Padova, Italy; Center for Mechanics of Biological Materials, Padova University, Padova, Italy; Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, RIKEN, Suita, Osaka, 565-0874, Japan, Japan.
Carlo Reggiani
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Padova University, Padova, Italy; Center for Mechanics of Biological Materials, Padova University, Padova, Italy; Science and Research Centre Koper, Institute for Kinesiology Research, Koper, Slovenia, Slovenia.

Elderly people perform more slowly movements of everyday life as rising from a chair, walking, and climbing stairs. This is in the first place due to the loss of muscle contractile force which is even more pronounced than  the loss of muscle mass. In addition, a secondary, but not negligible, component is the rigidity or increased stiffness which requires greater effort to produce the same movement and limits the range of motion of the joints. In this short review, we discuss the possible determinants of the limitations of joint mobility in healthy elderly, starting with the age-dependent alterations of the articular structure and focusing on the increased stiffness of the skeletal muscles. Thereafter, the possible mechanisms of the increased stiffness of the muscle-tendon complex are considered, among them changes in the muscle fibers, alterations of the connective components (extracellular matrix or ECM, aponeurosis, fascia and tendon) and remodeling of the neural pattern of muscle activation with increased of antagonist co-activation.

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How to Cite

Marcucci, L., & Reggiani, C. (2020). Increase of resting muscle stiffness, a less considered component of age-related skeletal muscle impairment. European Journal of Translational Myology, 30(2), 223–233. https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2020.8982

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