Measuring upper extremity function across the adult lifespan

As we age, we generally experience a progressive decline in the ability to use our arms and hands for normal daily activities such as using cutlery to cut food, brushing our teeth and buttoning up a shirt (Shumway-Cook & Woollacott, 2016). The ability to complete everyday activities with our upper […]


Joint position sense is unaffected during persistent experimental muscle pain

Our ability to sense the position of our body, known as proprioception, is fundamental for controlling how we move and interact during daily activities (Proske and Gandevia, 2012). People who have persistent pain (i.e., pain that lasts for more than three months) find it difficult to sense the position of […]


Electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles for the critically ill

Intensive care beds, which cater for critically ill patients, are predicted to represent >30% of all future hospital beds. Around a third of critically ill patients require mechanical ventilation to help them breathe. While a lifesaving intervention, mechanical ventilation increases breathing and heart related complications, decreases quality of life, and […]


The debate on muscle hypertrophy

For decades, there has been a consensus amongst scientists and practitioners that one of the ways people become stronger after resistance training is that their muscles become bigger. This increase in muscle size is termed muscle hypertrophy. Over the past 3 years, however, Jeremy Loenneke’s research group at the University […]


Long-term self-stretching increases muscle length in chronic hemiparesis 2

In stroke-induced hemiparesis, muscles such as the plantar flexors undergo dramatic alterations that involve both physical shortening (decrease in fascicle length) and viscoelastic loss of extensibility (Kwah et al., 2012). This muscle disorder has been termed spastic myopathy (Gracies, 2015) and is commonly treated with stretching techniques. However, the effectiveness […]