Invited Symposium: How human athletes move: trade-offs in anatomical and physiological design
Animals including human athletes move using energy generated (work done) by muscles, which are activated by the nervous system. Optimum movement performance can occur when muscle activation is maximal and coordination optimal (if maximum strength or speed are required) or when the energy cost of activation is minimized (if movement economy is required), so a trade-off between speed/strength and endurance is apparent. However, no single musculoskeletal design allows force, speed, and efficiency (economy) to be optimized, and some balance must be achieved. This integrative symposium aims to explore trade-offs created by the need for muscle-tendon units to produce forces and power of different magnitudes, at different lengthening-shortening speeds, and over different overall durations (A. Blazevich), while investigating the impact of these trade-offs in various animal species known for speed or endurance (P. McGuigan), and finally addressing these aspects and their implications for the design of optimized resistance training protocols in human athletes (B. Van Hooren).