ORIGINAL RESEARCH

published: 27 August 2019

doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01082

Morphological and Mechanical

Properties of the Quadriceps
Femoris Muscle-Tendon Unit From
Adolescence to Adulthood: Effects of
Age and Athletic Training
Georgios Charcharis 1,2 , Falk Mersmann 1,2* , Sebastian Bohm 1,2 and
Adamantios Arampatzis 1,2*
1
Department of Training and Movement Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2 Berlin School
of Movement Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

The combined effects of mechanical loading and maturation during adolescence are still
not well understood. The purpose of the study was to investigate the development of the
quadriceps femoris muscle-tendon unit from early adolescence (EA), late adolescence
Edited by:
Christian Couppé,
(LA) to young adulthood (YA), and examine how it is influenced by athletic training in
Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark a cross-sectional design. Forty-one male athletes and forty male non-athletes from
Reviewed by: three different age groups (EA: 12–14 years, n = 29; LA: 16–18 years, n = 27; and
Sébastien Ratel,
YA: 20–35 years, n = 25) participated in the present study. Maximum strength of the
Université Clermont Auvergne, France
Suzi Edwards, knee extensor muscles, architecture of the vastus lateralis (VL) muscle and patellar
The University of Newcastle, Australia tendon stiffness were examined using dynamometry, motion capture, electromyography,
*Correspondence: and ultrasonography. Muscle strength and tendon stiffness significantly increased
Falk Mersmann
[Link]@[Link]
(p < 0.001) from EA to LA without any further alterations (p > 0.05) from LA to YA.
Adamantios Arampatzis Athletes compared to non-athletes showed significantly greater (p < 0.001) absolute
[Link]@[Link]
muscle strength (EA: 3.52 ± 0.75 vs. 3.20 ± 0.42 Nm/kg; LA: 4.47 ± 0.61 vs.
Specialty section:
3.83 ± 0.56 Nm/kg; and YA: 4.61 ± 0.55 vs. 3.60 ± 0.53), tendon stiffness (EA:
This article was submitted to 990 ± 317 vs. 814 ± 299 N/mm; LA: 1266 ± 275 vs. 1110 ± 255 N/mm; and YA:
Exercise Physiology,
1487 ± 354 vs. 1257 ± 328), and VL thickness (EA: 19.7 ± 3.2 vs. 16.2 ± 3.4 mm;
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Physiology LA: 23.0 ± 4.2 vs. 20.1 ± 3.3 mm; and YA: 25.5 ± 4.2 vs. 23.9 ± 3.9 mm). Athletes
Received: 05 February 2019 were more likely to reach strain magnitudes higher than 9% strain compared to non-
Accepted: 07 August 2019 athlete controls (EA: 28 vs. 15%; LA: 46 vs. 16%; and YA: 66 vs. 33%) indicating an
Published: 27 August 2019
increased mechanical demand for the tendon. Although the properties of the quadriceps
Citation:
Charcharis G, Mersmann F,
femoris muscle-tendon unit are enhanced by athletic training, their development from
Bohm S and Arampatzis A (2019) early-adolescence to adulthood remain similar in athletes and non-athletes with the
Morphological and Mechanical
major alterations between early and LA. However, both age and athletic training was
Properties of the Quadriceps Femoris
Muscle-Tendon Unit From associated with a higher prevalence of imbalances within the muscle-tendon unit and a
Adolescence to Adulthood: Effects resultant increased mechanical demand for the patellar tendon.
of Age and Athletic Training.
Front. Physiol. 10:1082. Keywords: adolescent athletes, tendon stiffness, muscle strength, muscle architecture, muscle-tendon
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01082 imbalances

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

INTRODUCTION (Rudavsky et al., 2017, 2018). During pubertal growth, tendon

length increases in a higher rate compared to the CSA, indicating
Human maturation describes the tempo and timing of the that increments of tendon stiffness are mainly governed by a
progress toward the mature state during growth (Mirwald et al., change of the material properties (Neugebauer and Hawkins,
2002). It is well known that during maturation the muscle- 2012; Waugh et al., 2012). Since tendons adapt to mechanical
tendon unit is subjected to morphological and mechanical loading (Bohm et al., 2015), the increase of mass and muscle
alterations (Kanehisa et al., 1995a; O’Brien et al., 2010; Kubo strength during maturation may increase the stiffness due to
et al., 2014b). Muscle strength is increasing with age in line increased tendon loading during the daily weight-bearing tasks
with body height and mass (Beunen and Malina, 1988; Kanehisa and the increased muscle force (Waugh et al., 2012). At the end
et al., 1995a; Degache et al., 2010), and increases markedly of adolescence, tendon tissue turnover becomes greatly reduced
between 13 and 15 years in both sexes (Kanehisa et al., (Heinemeier et al., 2013), yet the plasticity of the tendon is
1995a). Furthermore, Kanehisa et al. (Kanehisa et al., 1995a,b) maintained, mainly in terms of loading-induced changes of the
reported an increase of the muscle anatomical cross-sectional material properties (Bohm et al., 2015).
area with age in parallel with muscle strength and, similarly, Irrespective of gains in body mass, superimposed mechanical
a pronounced development between age 13 and 15 years in loading by sports activity further can increase tendon stiffness
untrained boys. The functional and morphological development in adolescence (Mersmann et al., 2017c), which suggests that the
of the muscle seems to continue until adulthood (Kubo et al., development of tendon mechanical properties during maturation
2001, 2014b). On the other hand, there is evidence that the might be different in athletes compared to adolescents that
muscle strength in athletes increases most between 12 and do not train systematically. Similar to muscle strength, data
13 years in boys (Degache et al., 2010) and, thus, potentially on the Achilles tendon of untrained adolescents suggest that
earlier compared to untrained counterparts. Considering the the maturation-related increases of tendon stiffness are most
increased secretion of muscle hypertrophy-mediating hormone pronounced early in adolescence (Kubo et al., 2014a; Mogi
levels, which occurs at that age (Vingren et al., 2010; Murray and et al., 2018). Yet a study of our laboratory on adolescent
Clayton, 2013) and is promoted by physical activity (Kraemer volleyball athletes suggests that – under the twofold stimulus
et al., 1992; Zakas et al., 1994; Tsolakis et al., 2004), it might of maturation and training – major changes of tendon CSA
even be that morphological changes of the muscle contribute and stiffness might occur later in adolescence compared to
to the adaptive response to increased mechanical loading. For the muscular development (Mersmann et al., 2017b). Since
instance, mid-adolescent athletes can already feature adult- there is little information considering muscle and tendon
like muscle morphology with only minor changes of muscle development during adolescence, there is still great uncertainty
volume thereafter (Mersmann et al., 2014, 2017b) as well how maturation affects the muscle-tendon unit, especially in
as greater muscle pennation angles compared to similar-aged interaction with superimposed loading by means of athletic
controls (Mersmann et al., 2016). Thus, it seems possible training. The increase of our understanding regarding this
that even early adolescent athletes already show indications interplay might be of particular importance in terms of recent
of loading-related hypertrophy and muscle remodeling and evidence, which lends support to the idea that an imbalanced
that there is an interaction of maturation and superimposed development of muscle strength and tendon stiffness might
loading that influences the temporal development of muscle increase the risk of overuse tendon injury (see Mersmann
during adolescence features (in terms of an earlier development) et al., 2017a for a review). An adequate strain applied to the
compared to untrained individuals. tendon is important and necessary for tendon healthiness and
Similar to muscles, tendon properties are also affected by the adaptability (Bohm et al., 2015; Wiesinger et al., 2015). For
influence of maturation (O’Brien et al., 2009; Kubo et al., 2014b), example, mechanical tendon loading that introduce low strain
including its cross-sectional area, Young’s modulus (as a measure values (∼3%) cannot improve tendon properties (Arampatzis
of its material properties based on the stress-strain relationship) et al., 2007a, 2010). However, if a tendon is repeatedly subjected
and stiffness (as a measure of its mechanical resilience based on to very high levels of strain, this might induce overload.
the force-elongation relationship). Tendon stiffness is a crucial In a rodent model, Wang et al. (2013) demonstrated that
mechanical property because it influences the transmission of cyclic application of 9% tendon strain acts degenerative on
the muscle force to the skeleton and depends on its material the tissue and weakens its structural integrity. As ultimate
properties and dimensions (Butler et al., 1978). Patellar tendon tendon strain is irrespective of species (LaCroix et al., 2013)
stiffness and its determinants cross-sectional area (CSA), rest and considering the average levels of maximum in vivo tendon
length and Young’s modulus were reported to increase during strain observed in humans using ultrasound (e.g., Hansen et al.,
maturation from 9 years to adulthood in humans (O’Brien 2006; Couppé et al., 2009; Mersmann et al., 2016, 2018),
et al., 2009). In accordance with the previous study, Kubo et al. strain magnitudes higher than 9.0% during maximum isometric
(2014b) and Waugh et al. (2012) reported that Achilles tendon contractions might be indicative for imbalances within the
Young’s modulus was lower in children (9–12 years) compared muscle-tendon unit, characterized by the tendon stiffness being
to adults, and junior high school students (13–15 years) had too low compared to the strength of the associated muscle
adult-like material properties. The mechanical changes observed (Bohm et al., 2019).
from child- to adulthood may partly be mediated by an The purpose of this research was to investigate the
increase in the structural integrity of the collagenous network musculotendinous development during adolescence and how

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

it is influenced by athletic training by means of comparing consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The
athletes and non-athletes in three different age groups (i.e., early measurements of muscle strength (i.e., knee extension moments),
adolescents: 12–14 years, late adolescents: 16–18 years and adults) vastus lateralis (VL) architecture and patellar tendon mechanical
under the reasonable assumption that these groups would also properties were carried out on the dominant leg (i.e., leg used for
substantially differ in terms of maturation. We focused on the kicking a ball) following a standardized warm-up consisting of 2–
quadriceps femoris muscle-tendon unit due to its important 3 min ergometer cycling, ten submaximal isometric contractions,
contribution to movement performance and susceptibility to and three maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVC).
overuse injury (Zwerver et al., 2011; Simpson et al., 2016;
Nikolaidou et al., 2017). We hypothesized to find higher muscle Measurement of Maximum Knee Joint
strength, muscle thickness, pennation angle, and tendon stiffness Moment
in athletes compared to non-athlete controls in all age groups.
For the assessment of the muscle strength of the knee
Moreover, we expected to find in athletes the major development
extensor muscles, the participants performed isometric MVCs
of tendon stiffness between late adolescence (LA) and adulthood,
on a dynamometer (Biodex Medical System 3, Shirley, NY,
yet more timely clear increases of muscle strength (Degache
United States) at 65◦ , 70◦ , and 75◦ knee joint angle (i.e., values
et al., 2010; Mersmann et al., 2017b), which may increase the
at rest measured by the dynamometer; 0◦ = full knee extension).
mechanical demand for the tendon.
In our earlier work (e.g., Mersmann et al., 2017c), we found
that using these resting angles, the participants reach their
approximate optimum angle for force generation during the
MATERIALS AND METHODS contractions. The trunk angle was set to 85◦ (neutral full hip
extension = 0◦ ) and the hip was fixed to the dynamometer seat
Experimental Design using a non-elastic strap.
Eighty-one male participants comprised of athletes (n = 41) Since there are differences between the resultant knee joint
and untrained controls (n = 40) in three age groups [EA: early moment and the moment measured by the dynamometer due
adolescence (n = 29), 12–14 years; LA: late adolescence (n = 27), to the changes of the knee joint axis relative to the axis
16–18 years; and YA: young adulthood (n = 25), 20–35 years] of the dynamometer during the MVC induced by soft tissue
were included in the study (Table 1). The athletes were recruited deformation and dynamometer compliance, we followed the
from the disciplines American football, volleyball, handball, inverse dynamics approach introduced by Arampatzis et al.
basketball, judo, kick-boxing, fencing, gymnastics, dancing, (2004). Kinematic data were recorded using a Vicon motion
hockey, vaulting, track and field, acrobatics, decathlon, and capture system (version 1.7.1; Vicon Motion Systems, Oxford,
trained at least three times per week for at least 75 min per session. United Kingdom) integrating eight cameras operating at 250 Hz.
Athletes from endurance sports were excluded, because the Six reflective markers were captured, which were fixed on
sport-specific low-intensity loading is unlikely to be a sufficient the following positions: lateral and medial malleolus, the most
stimulus to significantly change the mechanical properties of prominent points of the lateral and medial femoral condyles,
the muscle-tendon unit (Karamanidis and Arampatzis, 2006; trochanter major, and lateral aspect of the iliac spine. Passive
Arampatzis et al., 2007b). The sport activity of the untrained knee joint moments due to gravity were recorded as a function
adolescent controls was limited to school sports and a maximum of knee joint angle in an additional trial. The participants were
of one session of recreational sports per week, while in adults instructed to relax the muscles of their dominant leg and then
only the latter applied. None of the participants suffered from any the joint was passively rotated at 5◦ /s through the full range
orthopedic abnormality or injury at the lower extremities. of motion by the dynamometer. Further, we accounted for the
The study was carried out in accordance with the contribution of antagonistic muscle activity to the resultant
recommendations of the Ethics Committee of the Humboldt- moment by establishing a linear electromyographic (EMG)-
Universität zu Berlin. All participants (and their respective activity – knee flexion moment relationship during submaximal
legal guardians in the adolescent groups) gave written informed isometric contractions (Mademli et al., 2004). For this purpose,

TABLE 1 | Anthropometrical characteristics of the non-athletes and athletes in the three age groups (EA, early adolescence; LA, late adolescence; YA, young adulthood;
means ± standard deviation).

Non-athletes Athletes

EA (n = 14) LA (n = 13) YA (n = 13) EA (n = 15) LA (n = 14) YA (n = 12)

Age [years] 12.8 ± 0.6b,c 17.3 ± 0.8a,c 29.0 ± 3.6a,b 13.0 ± 0.8b,c 17.2 ± 0.8a,c 26.3 ± 3.0a,b
Body height [cm]∗# 159.6 ± 11.0b,c 175.1 ± 5.3a 179.4 ± 9.6a 168.6 ± 12.0b,c 183.1 ± 8.4a 182.1 ± 8.1a
Body mass [kg]∗ 45.4 ± 10.3b,c 70.1 ± 15.0a,c 80.7 ± 16.5a,b 56.2 ± 11.2b,c 72.7 ± 10.4a,c 79.5 ± 9.1a,b
Femur length [cm]∗# 38.7 ± 2.2b,c 41.0 ± 1.9a 40.6 ± 3.8a 39.8 ± 4.1b,c 43.8 ± 3.8a 42.9 ± 2.9a
# Statisticallysignificant effect of activity (p < 0.05). ∗ Statistically significant effect of age (p < 0.05). a Statistically significant difference to EA (p < 0.05). b Statistically
significant difference to LA (p < 0.05). c Statistically significant difference to YA (p < 0.05).

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

we recorded two additional knee flexion trials featuring an EMG- body height, and mass. Since the moment arm of the patellar
activity that was slightly lower and higher, respectively, compared tendon is significantly influenced by the knee joint angle, it was
to the activity registered during the maximum knee extension adjusted to the respective knee joint angle position based on
trials. The EMG activity of the lateral head of the biceps femoris the polynomial regression equation suggested by Herzog and
was recorded using two bipolar surface electrodes (Blue Sensor Read (1993). The ultrasound images were synchronized with the
N, Ambu GmbH, Bad Nauheim, Germany) placed over the mid- kinematic and analog data using an externally induced voltage
portion of the muscle belly with an inter-electrode distance peak. Patellar tendon elongation during the contractions was
of 2 cm after shaving and cleaning the skin to reduce skin determined by manually tracking the deep insertion of the tendon
impedance. EMG data was captured at 1000 Hz (Myon m320RX; at the patellar apex and the tibial tuberosity frame-by-frame
Myon, Baar, Switzerland) and transmitted to the Vicon system via using a custom-written MATLAB interface. In order to achieve
a 16-channel A-D converter. a high reliability (≥0.95), the force-elongation relationship of
the 5 trials of each participant was averaged using the highest
Measurement of Vastus Lateralis Muscle common force of the single trials as a peak force (Schulze
et al., 2012). Tendon stiffness was calculated between 50 and
Architecture
100% of the peak tendon force based on a linear regression.
For the assessment of the VL architecture, ultrasound images
As stiffness is influenced by the resting length of the tendon
were captured at 60◦ knee joint angle, which has been reported
(Butler et al., 1978; Arampatzis et al., 2005), we further
by Herzog et al. (1990) to be the approximate optimum angle of
calculated the normalized tendon stiffness (i.e., the product of
the VL for force production. A 10 cm linear ultrasound probe
stiffness and rest length) that represents the slope of the force-
(7.5 MHz; My Lab60; Esaote, Genova, Italy; probe: linear array
strain curve.
(LA923), depth: 7.4 cm, focal point: 0.9 and 1.9, no image filter)
was placed over the belly of the inactive muscle in its longitudinal
axis at 60% thigh length, which is the assumed location of the
maximum anatomical cross-sectional area (Mersmann et al.,
STATISTICS
2015). The ultrasound images were analyzed offline using a The statistical analysis was conducted in SPSS (version 20.0; IBM,
custom written MATLAB interface (version R2012a; MathWorks, Armonk, NY, United States). A two–way analysis of variance
Natick, MA, United States). The upper and deeper aponeuroses (ANOVA) was performed with the fixed factors activity (i.e., non-
were defined by setting three reference points along each athletes, athletes) and age (i.e., EA, LA, and YA) The Shapiro–
aponeurosis and a linear least-squares-fit through these points. Wilk Test was performed to verify the normal distribution of the
Subsequently, the visible features of multiple fascicles were data and Levene’s test to assess the homogeneity of variances.
marked manually and a reference fascicle was calculated based on A Bonferroni-corrected post hoc analysis was conducted in the
the average inclination of the fascicle portions and the distance case of a significant age effect or interaction of the factors
of the aponeuroses (Marzilger et al., 2017). The pennation angle activity and age. The alpha level for all tests was set to 0.05.
refers to the angle between the reference fascicle and the deeper The effect size f for significant observations were calculated in
aponeurosis. Fascicle length was normalized to femur length G∗ Power (Version 3.1.6; HHU, Düsseldorf, Germany; Faul et al.,
(measured from the greater trochanter to the lateral epicondyle, 2007), based on the partial eta squared or means and pooled
identified by palpation, by means of a measuring tape). standard deviation for non-parametrically tested parameters. The
subscript Activity and Age indicates if the effect size refers to
Mechanical Properties of the Patellar differences between athletes and controls or between age groups,
Tendon respectively. Effect sizes of 0.1 ≤ f < 0.25 will be referred to as
To investigate the force-elongation relationship of the patellar small, 0.25 ≤ f < 0.5 as medium and f ≥ 0.5 as large (Cohen,
tendon, the ultrasound probe (i.e., similar probe and settings as 1988). Using the whole sample, we calculated the Pearson’s r for
described previous) was fixed by means of a custom-made knee the correlation of tendon force and stiffness. We further predicted
brace overlying the patellar tendon in the sagittal plane. The tendon stiffness by tendon force using a linear regression model
participants performed 5 isometric ramp contractions, gradually with group-specific y-intercept and slope constants for each age
increasing their effort from rest to maximum in ∼5 s and and activity group, respectively, and compared the residuals
simultaneously the elongation of the tendon was captured by of the model prediction with a two-way ANOVA to analyze
means of the ultrasound at 25 Hz. The resting knee joint angle differences in the association of tendon force and stiffness. The
for the ramp contractions was set according to the MVC trial model equation was:
in which the highest moment was achieved by the respective
participant. The knee joint moments were calculated according yi = c0 + β0 Fi + c1 gi + β1 gi Fi + c2 li + β2 lFi + c3 gi li + β3 gi li Fi
the same consideration as described above, applying the inverse + c4 ai + β4 ai Fi + c5 gi ai + β5 gi ai Fi + εi
dynamics approach and correction for antagonistic activity.
Tendon force was calculated by dividing the knee extension where i is index for participant (1,. . ..,81); g is the activity-
moment by the tendon moment arm. group variable (non-athlete = 0; athlete = 1); l is late adolescent
The moment arms were predicted using the regression age variable (EA = 0; LA = 1; YA = 0); a is young adult
equation reported by Mersmann et al. (2016) based on sex, age variable (EA = 0; LA = 0; YA = 1); c are the intercept

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

constant, β are the slope constants; F is tendon force ε p = 1.0). There was no significant effect of age (p = 0.743),
is the residual. activity (p = 0.370) or activity-by-age interaction (p = 0.532
We further examined the frequency of individuals that Table 2) on antagonistic co-activation (i.e., antagonistic moment
reached strain values greater than 9%, since it has been reported normalized to maximal resultant moment) and tendon resting
that repetitive strains above 9% can induce catabolic tendon length (p = 0.290, p = 0.930, and p = 0.505, respectively). We
matrix damage (Wang et al., 2013). Though the exceedance of found greater VL muscle thickness in athletes compared to
the threshold does not necessarily imply injury, it provides a non-athletes (p = 0.001, f Activity = 0.4) and a significant effect
classification if the mechanical demand for the tendon and risk of age (p < 0.001, f Age = 0.79), but no effect of age-by-activity
for fatigue is comparatively high. interaction (p = 0.545, Figure 1A). EA and LA had lower
(p < 0.001, f = 0.86, and p = 0.001, f = 0.48) muscle thickness
compared to YA, and EA lower thickness than LA (p = 0.007,
RESULTS f = 0.41). There was no effect of activity (p = 0.473) or age-by-
activity interaction (p = 0.407) on pennation angle (Figure 1B).
Considering the anthropometric data (Table 1), there was a However, there was a significant effect of age (p < 0.001,
significant effect of age on body mass (p < 0.001, f Age = 1.04), f Age = 0.6) on pennation angle (Figure 1B). EA, LA both had
but no effect of activity group or activity-by-age interaction lower pennation angles compared to YA (p < 0.001, f = 0.65,
(p > 0.05). Post hoc analysis revealed significantly greater body and p = 0.001, f = 0.51), but there were no statistically significant
mass with increasing age of the respective group (p < 0.05). There differences between EA and LA (p = 0.707). On normalized
was a significant effect of activity group (p = 0.003, f Activity = 0.36) fascicle length (normalized to femur length), there were no
and age (p < 0.001, f Age = 0.83) on body height. Athletes significant effects of age (p = 0.903), activity (p = 0.299) or
were taller compared to non-athlete controls and EA showed age-by-activity interaction (p = 0.935; Figure 1C).
significantly smaller height compared to LA and YA (p < 0.001), Patellar tendon maximal force was greater in athletes
but there were no significant differences between YA and LA compared to non-athletes (p < 0.001, f Activity = 0.52) and there
(p = 1.0). There was a significant main effect of age and activity was a significant effect of age (p < 0.001, f Age = 1.12), but no
(p = 0.002, f Age = 0.43; p = 0.007 f Activity = 0.32, respectively) but significant age-by-activity interaction (p = 0.772, Figure 2A). EA
no activity-by-age interaction (p = 0.608) on femur length. EA had significant smaller patellar tendon force compared to LA and
had smaller femur lengths compared to YA and LA (p = 0.002 and YA (p < 0.001, f = 0.93, and f = 1.13, respectively), but there
p = 0.028, respectively), but there were no significant differences were no significant differences between LA and YA (p = 0.602).
between YA and LA (p = 1.0). Athletes had stiffer patellar tendons compared to non-athletes
Considering absolute and normalized muscle strength (p = 0.013, f Activity = 0.31, Figure 2B) and there was a significant
(normalized to body mass) of the knee extensors, athletes effect of age (p < 0.001, f Age = 0.61). EA had statistically lower
had higher strength compare to non-athletes (p < 0.001, patellar tendon stiffness compared to YA (p = 0.015, f = 0.66) and
f Activity = 0.53 for absolute strength and p < 0.001, f Activity = 0.59 LA (p < 0.001, f = 0.42), but there were no significant differences
for normalized strength). There was a significant age effect between YA and LA (p = 0.104). There was a significant effect
(p < 0.001, f Age = 1.13 for absolute strength, and p < 0.001, of age (p < 0.001, f Age = 0.66) and a significant effect of
f Age = 0.64 for normalized strength) but no activity-by-age activity (p = 0.01, f Activity = 0.32) on normalized patellar tendon
interaction (p = 0.770 and p = 0.129 for the absolute and stiffness (Table 2), but no statistically significant activity-by-
normalized strength, respectively; Table 2). EA had lower age interaction (p = 0.956). EA had smaller normalized patellar
absolute strength compared to YA and LA (p < 0.001, f = 1.14, tendon stiffness compared to LA (p = 0.001, f = 0.55) and YA
and f = 0.93, respectively) and normalized muscle strength (p < 0.001, f = 0.70) but no significant differences between LA
(p < 0.001, f = 0.51, and f = 0.61), but there were no statistically and YA (p = 0.592). There was a significant effect of age on patellar
significant differences between YA and LA (p = 0.395 and tendon maximum strain (p = 0.028, f Age = 0.33; Figure 2C). EA

TABLE 2 | Knee joint moments, co-activation (i.e., antagonistic moment normalized to the resultant knee joint moment), tendon resting length, and normalized stiffness
of the non-athletes and athletes in the three age groups (EA, early adolescence; LA, late adolescence; YA, young adulthood; means ± standard deviation).

Non-athletes Athletes

EA (n = 14) LA (n = 13) YA (n = 13) EA (n = 15) LA (n = 14) YA (n = 12)

MVC [Nm]∗# 145.2 ± 34.6b,c 267.0 ± 72.3a 288.2 ± 61.0a 202.0 ± 65.7b,c 327.3 ± 69.4a 367.0 ± 64.7a
Normalized MVC [Nm/kg]∗# 3.20 ± 0.42b,c 3.83 ± 0.56a 3.60 ± 0.53a 3.52 ± 0.75b,c 4.47 ± 0.61a 4.61 ± 0.55a
Antagonistic co-activation [%] 8.4 ± 4.3 11.1 ± 6.3 8.9 ± 6.1 8.5 ± 6.3 8.1 ± 5.1 8.5 ± 4.5
Tendon resting length [mm] 49.2 ± 8.5 52.0 ± 4.4 51.0 ± 8.4 50.6 ± 6.9 53.0 ± 7.6 48.1 ± 5.9
Tendon normalized stiffness [kN/strain]∗# 41.5 ± 11.6b,c 57.2 ± 11.1a 63.3 ± 15.7a 51.0 ± 15.1b,c 65.9 ± 14.7a 70.5 ± 14.5a
# Statisticallysignificant effect of activity (p < 0.05). ∗ Statistically significant effect of age (p < 0.05). a Statistically significant difference to EA (p < 0.05). b Statistically
significant difference to LA (p < 0.05). c Statistically significant difference to YA (p < 0.05).

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

FIGURE 1 | Mean values and standard error (error bars) of vastus lateralis (VL)
muscle thickness (A), pennation angle (B), and normalized fascicle length (C; FIGURE 2 | Mean values and standard error (error bars) of patellar tendon:
normalized to femur length) of non-athletes (black) and athletes (white) in early tendon force (A), tendon stiffness (B), and tendon strain (C) of non-athletes
adolescence (EA), late adolescence (LA), and young adulthood (YA). (black) and athletes (white) in EA, LA, and YA. # Statistically significant effect of
# Statistically significant effect of activity (p < 0.05). ∗ Statistically significant activity (p < 0.05). ∗ Statistically significant effect of age (p < 0.05).
(#) Tendency for an effect of activity, p = 0.072.
effect of age (p < 0.05).

had lower tendon strain compared to YA (p = 0.039, f = 0.33), showed a tendency for an activity effect (p = 0.098) and no
but there were no statistically significant differences between EA effect of age (p = 0.524) or age-by-activity interaction (0.536,
and LA (p = 0.120), or LA and YA (p = 1.0). There was a tendency Figure 3B). Examining the individual tendon strain values during
toward an effect of activity on patellar tendon strain (p = 0.072, the maximum isometric contractions, it is notable that athletes
f Activity = 0.22), but no age-by-activity interaction (p = 0.389). were more likely to reach strain magnitudes higher than 9% strain
There was a significant correlation between tendon force compared to non-athlete controls (frequency in athletes: 28–66%
and tendon stiffness (r = 0.631, p < 0.001, Figure 3A) for and in non-athletes: 15–33%, Figure 4). Further, the frequency
the whole investigated group of participants. The residuals of individuals that reach strain values greater than 9% increased
of the regression model that included group-specific terms from EA to YA in both athletes and non-athletes (Figure 4).

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

FIGURE 3 | (A) Correlation of tendon force and stiffness of non-athletes (black) and athletes (white) in early adolescence (EA, triangles), late adolescence (LA,
circles), and young adulthood (YA, squares). (B) Means and standard error (error bars) of the residuals of the group-specific linear regression model (see section
“Materials and Methods”) of non-athletes and athletes in EA, LA, and YA. (#) Tendency for an effect of activity, p = 0.098.

DISCUSSION in EA. In our EA participants, the average enhancement in

patellar tendon stiffness due to training was ∼25%, which can be
The present cross-sectional study investigated the development interpreted as clear and functionally relevant adaptation.
of quadriceps femoris muscle strength, VL architecture and The main alteration in muscle strength and tendon stiffness
patellar tendon mechanical properties during adolescence and due to maturation seems to occur between EA and LA. In this
how it is influenced by athletic training. The results show that, stage also the main changes in the femur length, body height and
both muscle and tendon were affected by athletic training, body mass occurred, which indicates an analogous development
demonstrating greater muscle strength, tendon stiffness and VL of the functional and mechanical muscle-tendon properties
thickness in athletes compared to non-athlete controls. However, with the skeletal system. Further, normalized fascicle length
although the absolute values were different between athletes and (fascicle length/femur length) was similar between all age groups
controls, the development of muscle strength, tendon stiffness and without any athletic training effect, indicating that during
and VL thickness from early adolescent to adulthood did not maturation fascicle length development is proportional to bone
differ significantly, indicating a similar effect of maturation on growth. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating
muscle-tendon properties in both groups. the interaction between athletic training and age in both muscle
There was a marked increase in muscle strength of the and tendon properties during adolescence. We hypothesized an
knee extensors from early to late adolescents in both athletes effect of athletic training on the development in muscle and
(62%) and non-athletes (86%) and no differences between late tendon properties during adolescence because the level of the
adolescent and young adults. These findings are in agreement androgenic hormones (e.g., testosterone), which promote protein
with earlier studies reporting the effect of maturation on the synthesis and, thus, muscle hypertrophy (Murray and Clayton,
muscle strength development (Kanehisa et al., 1995a,b; Landi 2013; Lundberg, 2017), is different in each stage of maturation
et al., 2017). In all investigated age-groups, athletes demonstrated and can additionally be affected by athletic training (Kraemer
greater muscle strength and VL muscle thickness compared to et al., 1992; Zakas et al., 1994; Tsolakis et al., 2004). The absence
non-athletes, evidencing a training-induced adaptation in the of any age-by-activity interaction indicates that, irrespective of
knee extensor muscles. Furthermore, the increased VL muscle the marked differences in the average levels of muscle strength
thickness indicates muscle hypertrophy even in the EA as a and tendon stiffness, the course of the development of these
consequence of intensive athletic training. Similarly, a marked muscle-tendon unit properties with maturation is similar in
increase from EA to LA without any differences between LA athletes compared to non-athletes. This is somewhat in contrast
and YA and a clear effect of athletic training was found in to our earlier assumptions (Mersmann et al., 2017a) and the
patellar tendon stiffness and normalized patellar tendon stiffness. conclusion of earlier meta-analyses (Behringer et al., 2010;
In a previous study (Mersmann et al., 2017c), we reported Moran et al., 2017) that the trainability of muscle strength
greater patellar tendon stiffness in late-adolescent Volleyball and the anabolic response of muscles to mechanical stimuli
athletes compared to untrained controls, demonstrating the would increase during adolescent maturation, which we thought
tendon’s responsiveness to mechanical loading in this age. Our would affect the course of muscle-tendon development with
current study provides additional evidence that tendons adapt to increasing differences between the athletes and controls with age.
increased mechanical loading and enhance their stiffness already Though the systemic basal levels of sex and growth hormones

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

FIGURE 4 | Individual patellar tendon strain values during maximal isometric contractions of non-athletes (squares) and athletes (triangles) in early adolescent (A;
EA), late adolescent (B; LA) and young adulthood (C; YA), and frequency of cases with strain values greater than 9% for each group (D).

(Murray and Clayton, 2013) and the endocrine response to values during the maximum isometric contractions as well as the
exercise increase with maturation and influence muscle and residuals of the regression model predicting tendon stiffness by
tendon protein metabolism (Rooyackers and Nair, 1997; Hulthén tendon force were in tendency greater in athletes (p = 0.072 and
et al., 2001; Doessing et al., 2010; Hansen and Kjaer, 2014), the p = 0.098, respectively). When examining the individual strain
local responses of the muscle-tendon unit to training seems not values reached during the maximum isometric contractions in all
to be a simple function of the maturation-related changes of the investigated age groups, it is notable that it was more likely in
basal levels and load-induced secretion of systemic hormones. athletes that individuals reached strain magnitudes higher than
For instance, research that directly compared the effects of 9%, which is indicative of imbalances within the muscle-tendon
training in states of high or low concentrations of circulating unit and resultant high mechanical demand for the tendon.
endogenous hormones found no differences in the intramuscular Further, the frequency of strain values over 9% increased from
anabolic signaling (Spiering et al., 2008), acute protein synthesis EA to YA independent of activity status. These observations lend
(West et al., 2009), or the local functional and morphological support to the idea that both athletic training and maturation
response to repeated training sessions (West et al., 2010). can lead to an increased prevalence of imbalances between
In our study, we found an effect of age on tendon strain muscle strength and tendon stiffness. Several studies (Lian et al.,
during maximum contractions with significantly higher tendon 2005; Zwerver et al., 2011; Cassel et al., 2015; Simpson et al.,
strain in adults compared to EA, indicating a disproportionate 2016) reported a similar phenomenon for the prevalence of
increase of tendon force compared to stiffness with increasing tendinopathy with regard to maturation and athletic training
age. Further, although statistically not significant, the strain (i.e., increased prevalence from EA to YA and in athletes). An

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Charcharis et al. Muscle-Tendon Adaptation During Adolescence

increase of overall tendon strain has been shown to increase with care considering the EA group. On the other hand, it
local tissue strains at the common site of structural degeneration seems very unlikely that the clear differences in calendric age
in patellar tendinopathy (Lavagnino et al., 2008). Further, we between age-groups would not be representative for different
recently found an association of tendon strain and its structural stages of maturity. Therefore, we do not believe that our
integrity in adolescent basketball players as well as increased conclusions considering the effects of maturation are affected
strain and impaired tendon microstructure in a subgroup by the lack of an assessment of actual maturity. Finally, due
with tendinopathy (Mersmann et al., 2019). Thus, imbalances to the inherent limitations of cross-sectional studies, further
between muscle strength and tendon stiffness developing during longitudinal research is needed to confirm the development of
maturation and with athletic training, repetitively subjecting the the musculotendinous system and its interaction with mechanical
tendon to high levels of strain, might be a risk factor in the loading indicated by our data.
etiology of overuse-induced tendinopathy as well as the common
background tendinosis or the, rather rare, tendinitis. Further,
one might speculate that an increase of tendon strain during CONCLUSION
muscle contraction might lead to a maltracking of the patellar,
redistribution of loads at the patellofemoral contact area and, In conclusion, the present study provides evidence that aside
in consequence, patellofemoral pain (Powers et al., 2017), which from higher levels of muscle strength, muscle thickness
is also common in adolescents (Rathleff, 2016). Though the and tendon stiffness in athletes, the development of the
association of musculotendinous imbalances to mechanisms of properties of the knee extensor muscle-tendon unit from
overuse injury warrants experimental evidence, from a preventive early-adolescence to adulthood is similar in athletes and non-
point of view, the integration of a specific training that increases athlete controls, with the major alterations occurring between
tendon stiffness and facilitates a balanced adaptation between early and LA. The frequency of imbalances in the quadriceps
muscle and tendon might be an important approach for the femoris muscle-tendon unit seem to increase with both age
athletic practice. Previous research of our group indicates that an and athletic training during the adolescence-to-adulthood
effective training stimulus for tendon adaptation is a combination development and result in an increased mechanical demand
of high loading magnitude, an appropriate loading duration in for the patellar tendon. Therefore, we recommend to introduce
every repetition (i.e., 3 s) and repetitive loading (Arampatzis et al., specific intervention protocols in the athletic training practice
2007a, 2010; Bohm et al., 2014). In children, the development of in order to support a balanced adaptation between muscle
resistance training competency should precede the application and tendon.
of high loads (Lloyd et al., 2014), yet it has already been
shown that specific tendon training in accordance to the exercise
recommendations above can be successfully applied in children
to increase their tendon stiffness (Waugh et al., 2014). A more ETHICS STATEMENT
comprehensive discussion of tendon training in children and
This study was carried out in accordance with the
adolescents for the prevention of muscle-tendon imbalances
recommendations of the Ethics Committee of the Humboldt-
and tendinopathy and specific exercise recommendations can be
Universität zu Berlin. All participants (and their respective
found elsewhere (Mersmann et al., 2017c).
legal guardians in the adolescent groups) gave written informed
A limitation of the present study is the lack of control
consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
for biological age. However, the assessment of skeletal age
involves exposure to radiation and, in addition to the perceived
invasiveness, the accuracy of grading the secondary sex
characteristics is rather low (Schlossberger et al., 1992; Taylor AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
et al., 2001; Slough et al., 2013), which is a particular problem
for small sample comparisons. Estimations of maturity based GC and AA conceived the experiments. GC, FM, and SB
on anthropometric data are a tempting alternative, yet these performed the experiments. GC analyzed the data. FM,
predictions cannot account for the considerable variation in SB, and AA substantially contributed to the data analysis.
anthropometry at a similar stage of maturity. As we included GC, FM, and AA interpreted the data and drafted the
athletes from sports in which body height is a selection manuscript. SB made important intellectual contributions
criterion (e.g., basketball and volleyball) and, as a result, during revision. All authors approved the final version
our athletes were significantly taller compared to the non- of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for the
athlete controls, any anthropometry-based prediction would content of the work.
also suggest a higher level of maturity in athletes. Even if
that might not reflect actual differences in biological age,
we cannot rule out differences in maturity. While maturity- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
related differences in physical characteristics have been reported
to be largely eliminated in non-athletes and athletes aged We acknowledge the support of the German Research
16–18 (Malina et al., 2004, 2013), the differences observed Foundation (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund
between athletes, and non-athletes need to be interpreted of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

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Sci. Sport. Exerc. 47, 1885–1895. doi: 10.1249/MSS.00000000000 Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was
00603 conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could
Zakas, A., Mandroukas, K., Karamouzis, G., and Panagiotopoulou, G. be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(1994). Physical training, growth hormone and testosterone levels and
blood pressure in prepubertal, pubertal and adolescent boys. Scand. Copyright © 2019 Charcharis, Mersmann, Bohm and Arampatzis. This is an open-
J. Med. Sci. Sports 4, 113–118. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.1994.tb00 access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
412.x License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted,
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of jumper’s knee among nonelite athletes from different sports: a cross- original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic
sectional survey. Am. J. Sports Med. 39, 1984–1988. doi: 10.1177/0363546511 practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply
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