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[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between a normal muscular fiber tear and a muscle contracture fiber tear when the rat soleus muscle is overstretched. [Subjects] The subjects of this study were six Wistar rats. [Methods] The rats' right hind legs were fixed in full plantar flexion with a plaster cast. After 4 weeks, direct traction of the soleus muscle was done using an Autograph. After fixation of the leg in the Autograph, the tibia, fibula, and all lower leg muscles, except for the soleus, were cut, and the soleus was stretched to the tearing point. [Results] The distance from the head of the fibula of the soleus muscle to the break part point was not significantly different between the fixed and control limbs. The extension distance was significantly different between the normal and contracture limbs. [Conclusion] The skeletal muscle fixed in contracture showed shortening, and the results suggest that its break point occured closer to the center than that of the normal muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]