Neural and biomechanical differences between men and young boys during a variety of motor tasks

The adaptation in activation patterns of the ankle extensor muscles to different functional demands was studied in adult men (n = 10) and 9-year-old boys (n = 10). The relative magnitude of the activation of the slow soleus (SOL) and the relatively fast medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle was measured during various postures and hopping tasks on a force plate. In addition, the myo-electric activity was quantified in three different phases of the stretch-shortening cycles during hopping. Major differences between boys and adults were observed in the postural tasks, where the boys appeared to utilize the MG to a relatively larger extent. During maximal height hopping there was a clearly larger potentiation of the MG activity in the adults, particularly in the eccentric phase. On the other hand, there were striking similarities between boys and adults with respect to the degree of pre-activation of both muscles during the different hopping regimes as well as potentiation of muscle activity during the concentric phase of maximal height hopping. Thus, some aspects of the selective neural control of the ankle extensor muscles appear to be manifested in pre-pubertal boys. However, the data also indicate that other factors, such as utilization of stored elastic energy in the muscles and stretch reflex potentiation, will still continue to develop from the age of nine.