Abstract

The purposes of this study were to describe and establish comparisons between groups in the explosive force and muscle architecture of the lower extremities, in four groups of Sports Sciences students, from the same faculty. Explosive force was tested by the Squat Jump (SJ) and the Counter-movement Jump (CMJ), and muscle architecture of vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius lateralis and gastrocnemius medialis was analysed with an ultrasongrapher. There were no significant differences between groups in the variables studied, except for the jump height and flight time in the SJ, in the groups of 3rd and 4th courses. The students from the 3rd course showed greater jump performance the others, although these values were lower than those found in other studies with similar populations. Relative fascicle lengths were similar to those reported in the literature. There were no significant correlations between explosive force and muscle architecture variables, probably because there are more factors involved in the force production, like fibre type and neural activation.