The absolute amount of shortening a fiber undergoes is a
function of its fiber length. Similarly, the amount a whole
muscle can shorten is dictated by the length of its constituent
fibers. An individual whole muscle is composed mostly of
fibers of similar lengths [15]. However there is a wide variation
in fiber lengths found in the human body, ranging from a
few centimeters to approximately half a meter [86,146]. The
length of the fibers within a muscle is a function of the architecture
of that muscle rather than of the muscle’s total length.
The following describes how fiber length and muscle architecture
are related.