James Wakeling
I am a comparative biomechanist who is fascinated by the forces, power outputs and efficiencies from muscles during contraction. Muscle performance depends on a multitude of factors that include the contractile properties of the individual muscle fibres, their geometrical arrangement within the muscle, how and when they are excited, the dynamics of the muscle during contractions and its interaction with the dynamics of the whole body. I have studied many of these features, from isolated muscle fibres and in situ preparations to whole body simulations and performance.
Currently, my work and that of members of the Neuromuscular Mechanics Lab involves research on a number of topics concerned with the mechanical output of skeletal muscle during locomotion. These projects address the following questions:
- What is the power output and efficiency of a muscle or group of muscles during contraction?
- How do the different motor units with a muscle get used to achieve high forces, power outputs or efficiencies?
- How does the geometrical arrangement of fascicles within the muscle change during contraction and contribute to the mechanical output of the muscle?
- How does the coordination of groups of muscles contribute to the mechanical performance of the limb?
Research Interest
- Muscle mechanics
- Locomotion
- Signal processing