The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of 4days of disuse (knee brace) on contractile function of isolated vastus lateralis fibers (n=486) from 11 young (24.3±0.9yrs) and 11 old (67.2±1.0yrs) healthy men having comparable levels of physical activity. Prior to disuse single fiber specific force (maximal Ca(2+)-activated force per cross-sectional area) was lower in MHC I vs. IIa fibers (p