Fig. 7.

The effect of fibre number (n fibres) on mean and median fibre length. The effects on mean and median fibre length calculations from measuring random subsamples of 5, 10, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 fibres from the full sample of fibres from the gluteus maximus (Gmax; A), adductor magnus (AM; B), vastus lateralis (VL; C), tibialis anterior (TA; D) and soleus (SOL; E) from all 10 subjects (lines represent data set means). For all muscles, the range of mean or median fibre lengths, expressed as a fraction of the ‘true’ mean or median value, was high in random subsamples of 5 fibres, but substantially lower in subsamples of >500 fibres.