The invention provides a system for measuring contractile torque of skeletal muscles, performing muscle training programs, and inducing contraction-induced injury. The system is versatile and precise to measure contractile torque, train muscles, and perform contraction--induced injury protocols on living rodents. The system also allows for repeated studies of the same animal over time, thus resembling longitudinal human studies, minimizing the effect of animal-to-animal variability, and reducing the total number of animals that need to be studied.
SMALL-ANIMAL UNIT FOR MUSCLE INJURY, MUSCLE TESTING AND MUSCLE TRAINING IN VIVO