The flow stress of the material changes with deformation, so called strain hardening or workhardening behaior and may be influenced by the rate of deformation.
There are two other forms of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in addition to atherosclerosis: arteriolosclerosis and medial calcific sclerosis.
So if you get tired muscles, they go hard and as they're hard they get, what would I say tense and as they get tense they get more tired more easily so you've got like a vicious circle.