According to the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction, the physical changes that occur in the sarcomere during contraction are a result of the thin filaments sliding past the thick filaments, resulting in shortening of all the sarcomeres in a myofibril. the striated pattern of skeletal muscle viewed under the microscope is created by the regular arrangement of thin and thick filaments, which results in alternating dark (a) bands and light (i) bands. which statement below describes the changes in this banding pattern that occur during contraction of a sarcomere? according to the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction, the physical changes that occur in the sarcomere during contraction are a result of the thin filaments sliding past the thick filaments, resulting in shortening of all the sarcomeres in a myofibril. the striated pattern of skeletal muscle viewed under the microscope is created by the regular arrangement of thin and thick filaments, which results in alternating dark (a) bands and light (i) bands. which statement below describes the changes in this banding pattern that occur during contraction of a sarcomere? a. the i bands and h bands get smaller and the a bands remain the same size. b. the i band gets smaller and the h zone remains the same. c. the i band gets smaller and the a band gets larger. d. the a band and the h band both become smaller.