Musculoskeletal Function and Exercise Physiology: Integrative Approaches and Emerging Insights
A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Research".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 4126
Special Issue Editors
Interests: fatigue; electromyography; mechanomyography; neuromuscular function; perceived responses; human performance
Interests: electromyography; mechanomyography; muscular function; athletic training; coactivation; cross-education
Interests: basketball; sports science; performance monitoring; biomechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to introduce the Special Issue titled “Musculoskeletal Function and Exercise Physiology: Integrative Approaches and Emerging Insights.” This Special Issue emphasizes the application of novel and integrative approaches for assessing musculoskeletal function (MSF) across various conditions, settings, and exercise modalities.
Musculoskeletal function refers to the activation of skeletal muscle via neural input, resulting in muscle contraction, force generation, and the movement of the skeletal system. Musculoskeletal function is influenced by neuromuscular, biochemical, morphological, and biomechanical factors, including motor unit behavior, signaling pathways, muscle architecture, tendon elasticity, and joint mechanics. Thus, the study of MSF involves an interdisciplinary approach that integrates aspects of engineering, chemistry, physics, anatomy, and physiology. To evaluate MSF, researchers often employ multiple techniques such as electromyography, isokinetic testing, biomechanical analyses, histological analyses, and advanced imaging techniques (e.g., ultrasound, CT, MRI). Collectively, these methods provide a comprehensive understanding of how the nervous, endocrine, and musculoskeletal systems interact to produce movement, allowing researchers to link underlying neurophysiological mechanisms with functional performance.
In this Special Issue, we invite original research and review articles that enhance our current understanding of MSF across multiple domains of exercise physiology. We particularly encourage submissions that incorporate emerging technologies, modeling and computational analyses, or interdisciplinary approaches to examine the underlying mechanisms of MSF. Specifically, we welcome investigations on topics ranging from molecular and neural processes to whole-body biomechanics. Studies examining MSF in healthy, clinical, and athletic populations, across various exercise modalities, and over different time frames are encouraged. Taken together, this Special Issue aims to highlight integrative perspectives on how musculoskeletal structure and function respond and adapt to exercise, mechanical loading, and movement, including how they are affected by disease and disorder.
Dr. Robert Smith
Dr. Tyler Neltner
Dr. Dimitrije Cabarkapa
Dr. Luke Chowning
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- resistance exercise
- aerobic exercise
- sport performance
- neuromuscular
- electromyography
- muscle function
- kinematics
- kinetics
- biomechanics
- motion analysis
- imaging techniques
- muscle biopsy
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