Muscle function after exercise-induced muscle damage has traditionally been evaluated by measures of isometric strength at a single joint angle or muscle length. The thesis investigates the effect of muscle damage on other muscle function parameters such as, isometric strength as a function of muscle length, concentric strength as a function of angular velocity, strength across muscle actions, the stretch-shortening cycle, power output, and fatigability. Study 1 The first part of this study aimed to determine how the muscle length at which strength is measured affects reductions in isometric strength following eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. The damaging exercise protocol consisted of 100 maximal voluntary eccentric actions of the knee extensors, performed in the prone position through a range of motion from 40° to 140° (0° = full extension) at an angular velocity of 90 deg's-1. Isometric strength of the knee extensors was measured at short muscle length (10° knee flexion) and optimal length (80°). A significantly greater relative loss of strength was observed at short versus optimal muscle length (76.3 ± 2.5% vs. 82.1 ± 2.7% of pre-exercise values, P<0.05) over the seven day testing period following eccentric exercise. The second part of the study investigated isometric strength at optimal length and concentric strength at slow (30 deg's 1) and fast (180 deg's 1) angular velocities of movement. No differences were apparent in the magnitude and rate of recovery of strength across isometric (82.1 ± 2.7%) and slow (86.6 ± 2.0%) and fast (84.3 ± 1.5%) concentric muscle actions. Both the popping sarcomere hypothesis of 2 muscle damage and a failure in excitation-contraction coupling are possible explanations for the reduction in strength being affected by the muscle length at which it is measured. Both would be expected to affect strength to a greater extent at short versus optimal muscle lengths. Study 2 The second study investigated knee extensor muscle strength during isometric, concentric and eccentric muscle actions and vertical jump performance under conditions of squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ). These measures were taken before, 1 hour after, and on days 1,2,3,4 and 7 following a damaging exercise protocol consisting of 100 barbell squats (10 sets x 10 reps @ 70% body mass load). Strength was significantly reduced for four days, however, no differences were observed in the magnitude or rate of recovery of isometric strength at 80° knee flexion and concentric and eccentric strength at 90 deg's'. Vertical jump performance was significantly reduced for three days and was dependent on the type of jump being performed. The relative decline in SJ performance was significantly greater than that in CMJ performance (91.6 ± 1.1% vs. 95.2 ± 1.3% of pre-exercise values, P<0.05) and the relative decline in SJ was significantly greater than that in DJ performance (91.6 ± 1.1% vs. 95.2 ± 1.4%, P<0.05). No differences were observed in the relative decline in CMJ and DJ performance (95.2 ± 1.3% vs. 95.2 ± 1.4%, P> 0.05). The stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) of muscle function is utilised in CMJ and DJ but not in SJ. The SSC has a clear purpose: to allow the final phase (concentric action) to take place with greater force or power output, as compared to the condition where the movement is initiated by a concentric action alone. 3 Utilisation of the SSC in performance seems to attenuate the detrimental performance effects of exercise-induced muscle damage. Study 3 The third and final study investigated the effects of exercise-induced muscle damage on maximal power output and knee extensor fatigability under isometric and dynamic conditions. Under isometric conditions, strength was assessed at 40° and 80° knee flexion and fatigability was assessed by a sustained 60s maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) at each joint angle. For dynamic conditions, maximum power output and fatigue were assessed during a maximal 30s cycle ergometer test. These measures were taken before, 1 hour after, and on days 1,2,3, and 7 following a damaging exercise protocol consisting of 100 eccentric squats (10 sets x 10 reps @ 80% concentric 1 RM). Isometric strength was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) for seven days but no significant differences were observed in the magnitude of strength loss and the pattern of recovery between the two joint angles. Fatigability was quantified as the slope (b) of a linear regression line fitted to the torque and power decay during the 60s MVC and the 30s cycle test, respectively. Prior to muscle damage, subjects were significantly less fatigable (P < 0.05) at 40° (b = -2.39 ± 0.26) versus 80° (b = -5.50 ± 0.72). After muscle damage, subjects became significantly less fatigable at both 40° and 80° with recovery taking three days at 401 and seven days at 80°. Before damaging exercise, a greater rate of fatigue was observed under dynamic (b = -12.75 ± 2.3) versus isometric (80°) conditions (b = -5.50 ± 0.72). Isometric and dynamic fatigue 4 followed a similar temporal pattern after damaging exercise. When the effects of muscle damage on strength at 801 and maximal power output were compared, differences in the extent of performance loss and the time course of recovery were observed. At 1 hour post-exercise, strength was affected to a greater extent (30% reduction) than power (13% reduction) and whereas strength followed a linear recovery pattern, power suffered further decrements at day 1 (18%) and day 2 (16%) before starting to recover. The results indicate that under conditions of voluntary activation muscle becomes weaker but less fatigable under isometric and dynamic conditions following exercise-induced muscle damage. The lower starting torque / power output and the slower rate of decline in torque / power output observed in post-damage fatigue curves may be a phenomenon of selective type II fibre damage. Evidence suggests that type II fibres are selectively damaged during eccentric exercise and therefore post-damage fatigue curves may be missing their contribution to performance. The different recovery patterns observed for isometric and dynamic performance may indicate an inability to maintain central motor drive during complex dynamic tasks when damage is present.