Changes in indirect markers of muscle damage and tendons after daily drop jumping exercise with rapid load increase

The aim of this study was to assess changes in indirect markers of muscle damage and type i collagen degradation,as well as,patellar and achilles tendon morphological differences during nine daily drop-jumps sessions with constant load alternated with rapid increases in load to test the hypothesis that frequent drop-jump training results in negative muscular and tendon adaptation. young men (n = 9) performed daily drop jump workouts with progression every 3 days in terms of number of jumps,platform height and squat amplitude. voluntary and electrically evoked knee extensor torque,muscle soreness,blood plasma creatine kinase (ck) activity and carboxyterminal cross-linked telopeptide (ictp),patellar and achilles tendon thickness and cross-sectional area (csa) were assessed at dif-ferent time points during the training period and again on days 1,3,10 and 17 after the training. the findings were as follows: (1) steady decline in maximal muscle strength with major re-covery within 24 hours after the first six daily training sessions; (2) larger decline in electrically induced muscle torque and prolonged recovery during last three training sessions; (3) in-crease in patellar and achilles tendons csa without change in thickness towards the end of training period; (4) increase in jump height but not in muscle strength after whole training period. our findings suggest that frequent drop-jump sessions with constant load alternated with rapid increases in load do not induce severe muscle damage or major changes in tendons,nonetheless,this type of loading is not advisable for muscle strength improvement. © journal of sports science and medicine.