Research summary · Training and performance
Dynamic calf function relates to jumping and sprinting more closely than a static test
Thirty-eight healthy adults, including 18 high-performing sprint or jump athletes and 20 recreationally active participants, completed standing isometric plantar-flexion testing, jumps and sprint acceleration. Motion capture and ground-reaction forces quantified ankle kinetics using inverse dynamics.
- Publication year
- 2026
- First published online
- Publication type
- Cross-sectional laboratory biomechanics study
- Journal
- European Journal of Applied Physiology
- Population / context
- Athletics · Sprinting · Jumping
What the publication reports
Task-specific plantar-flexor kinetics correlated with performance in seven of nine comparisons. Positive peak power accounted for 19–50% of performance variation across tasks. Standing isometric strength was not significantly related to jump or sprint performance, or to their ankle kinetics. A static strength measurement therefore did not substitute for dynamic function in this sample.
Limits and interpretation
Associations do not show which training method improves performance. The modest mixed-ability sample and particular ankle position limit generalization to other strength tests. Null associations do not prove that calf strengthening has no value for athletes or rehabilitation.
Read the source
Consult the original record for the full author list, methods, references, funding and competing-interest disclosures.
The role of plantar flexor function, isometric strength and task-specific kinetics, in sprint and jump performance.
Original publication / indexed recordPMID: 42859186DOI: 10.1007/s00421-026-06462-9Full text at the sourceReader discussion
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