Novel Resistance Training Approach to Monitoring the Volume in Older Adults: The Role of Movement Velocity

Changes in strength-related outcomes following velocity-monitored resistance training with 10 % and 20 % velocity loss in older adults

We compared the effects of velocity-monitored resistance training with an intra-set velocity loss (i.e., the decrement in repetition velocity over the set) of 10 % vs. 20 % on strength-related outcomes in older adults. We randomly assigned eighteen older adults to a velocity loss group of 10 % (n = 10; 78 ± 12 years) or 20 % (n = 8; 73 ± 10 years) to perform a 10-week training program. The primary outcomes were the one-repetition maximum (1RM) and the average mean velocity against absolute loads associated with loads <60 % 1RM (MVlow) and ≥ 60 % 1RM (MVhigh) in the leg and chest press exercises, assessed at pre-, mid- (week 5), and post-test. Secondary outcomes included handgrip strength, 1-kg medicine ball throw distance, 10-m walking time, and five-repetition sit-to-stand time. No differences between groups were found in any outcome at any time (p > 0.05). Both groups improved the 1RM leg press from pre- to mid- and post-test and the MVlow and MVhigh from pre- to mid-test (p < 0.05). No group improved the 1RM chest press (p > 0.05), but both increased the MVlow from pre- to mid-test (p < 0.05). Furthermore, both groups improved the sit-to-stand time, while only the 20 % velocity loss group significantly improved handgrip strength and 10-m walking time (p < 0.05). The results showed that both velocity losses improved leg press strength and velocity, chest press velocity, and sit-to-stand time in older adults, although a 10 % velocity loss was more efficient as it required less volume (i.e., total repetitions) than 20 %. Nevertheless, the latter seems required to optimize handgrip strength and 10-m walking time in older people.

Next steps to advance general physical activity recommendations towards physical exercise prescription: a narrative review

Physical inactivity is a major health concern, associated with the development of several non-communicable diseases and with an increased mortality rate. Therefore, promoting active lifestyles has become a crucial public health necessity for enhancing overall health and quality of life. The WHO guidelines for physical activity (PA) present valuable contributions in this respect; however, we believe that greater specificity should be added or complemented towards physical exercise (PE) testing, prescription and programming in future recommendations. In this review article, we suggest simple and practical tools accessible to the entire population to improve the specificity of this approach, highlighting aspects of PE programming used by trained subjects. By adopting these suggestions, exercise professionals, clinicians and physical trainers can optimise the current general PA recommendations towards PE prescription to improve fitness status and encourage PE adherence in the general population.

Estimating the relative load from movement velocity in the seated chest press exercise in older adults

AIM

This study aimed to i) determine the load-velocity relationship in the seated chest press in older adults, ii) compare the magnitude of the relationship between peak and mean velocity with the relative load, and iii) analyze the differences between sexes in movement velocity for each relative load in the chest press.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Thirty-two older adults (17 women and 15 men; 79.6±7.7 years) performed a chest press progressive loading test up to the one-repetition maximum (1RM). The fastest peak and mean velocity reached with each weight were analyzed. Quadratic equations were developed for both sexes and the effectiveness of the regression model was analyzed through a residual analysis. The equations were cross-validated, considering the holdout method. The independent samples t-test analyzed i) the differences in the magnitude of the relationship between peak and mean velocity with the relative load and ii) the differences between sexes in the peak and mean velocity for each relative load.

RESULTS

It was possible to observe very strong quadratic load-velocity relationships in the seated chest press in women (peak velocity: r2 = 0.97, standard error of the estimate (SEE) = 4.5% 1RM; mean velocity: r2 = 0.96, SEE = 5.3% 1RM) and men (peak velocity: r2 = 0.98, SEE = 3.8% 1RM; mean velocity: r2 = 0.98, SEE = 3.8% 1RM) without differences (p>0.05) in the magnitude of the relationship between peak and mean velocity with the relative load. Furthermore, there was no overfitting in the regression models due to the high and positive correlation coefficients (r = 0.98-0.99). Finally, men presented higher (p<0.001) lifting velocities than women in almost all relative loads, except for 95-100% 1RM (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Measuring repetition velocity during the seated chest press is an objective approach to estimating the relative load in older adults. Furthermore, given the velocity differences between older women and men at submaximal loads, it is recommended to use sex-specific equations to estimate and prescribe the relative loads in older adults.

Load-power relationship in older adults: The influence of maximal mean and peak power values and their associations with lower and upper-limb functional capacity

Identifying the relative loads (%1RM) that maximize power output (Pmax-load) in resistance exercises can help design interventions to optimize muscle power in older adults. Moreover, examining the maximal mean power (MPmax) and peak power (PPmax) values (Watts) would allow an understanding of their differences and associations with functionality markers in older adults. Therefore, this research aimed to 1) analyze the load-mean and peak power relationships in the leg press and chest press in older adults, 2) examine the differences between mean Pmax-load (MPmax-load) and peak Pmax-load (PPmax-load) within resistance exercises, 3) identify the differences between resistance exercises in MPmax-load and PPmax-load, and 4) explore the associations between MPmax and PPmax in the leg press and chest press with functional capacity indicators. Thirty-two older adults (79.3 ± 7.3 years) performed the following tests: medicine ball throw (MBT), five-repetition sit-to-stand (STS), 10-m walking (10 W), and a progressive loading test in the leg press and chest press. Quadratic regressions analyzed 1) the load-mean and peak power relationships and identified the MPmax-load, MPmax, PPmax-load, and PPmax in both exercises, 2) the associations between MPmax and PPmax in the chest press with MBT, and 3) the associations between MPmax and PPmax in the leg press with STSpower and 10Wvelocity. In the leg press, the MPmax-load was ∼66% 1RM, and the PPmax-load was ∼62% 1RM, both for women and men (p &gt; 0.05). In the chest press, the MPmax-load was ∼62% 1RM, and the PPmax-load was ∼56% 1RM, both for women and men (p &gt; 0.05). There were differences between MPmax-load and PPmax-load within exercises (p &lt; 0.01) and differences between exercises in MPmax-load and PPmax-load (p &lt; 0.01). The MPmax and PPmax in the chest press explained ∼48% and ∼52% of the MBT-1 kg and MBT-3 kg variance, respectively. In the leg press, the MPmax and PPmax explained ∼59% of STSpower variance; however, both variables could not explain the 10Wvelocity performance (r2 ∼ 0.02). This study shows that the Pmax-load is similar between sexes, is resistance exercise-specific, and varies within exercises depending on the mechanical power variable used in older adults. Furthermore, this research demonstrates the influence of the MBT as an upper-limb power marker in older adults.

The Effects of High-Speed Resistance Training on Health Outcomes in Independent Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Human ageing involves several physiological impairments—in particular, a decrease in sensorimotor function and changes in the nervous system reduce muscle strength, power, balance, and functional capacity performance. Preventive strategies are essential to ensure the quality of life of the elderly. High-speed resistance training (HSRT) may be an effective approach to muscle power development in this population, with significant short-term effects on neural adaptations and muscle power production. Therefore, the present study intends to analyze and systematize the studies focused on HSRT interventions and their effects on health outcomes in independent older adults. Four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Scielo) were used for the purposes of searching randomized controlled trials that measured at least one key outcome measure focusing on velocity-based training and health outcomes in older adults on 7 March 2022 and identified 1950 studies. At the end of the process, fourteen studies were included in this systematic review and ten studies were included in the quantitative analysis. The main results showed that HSRT interventions would improve health measures, mostly cognitive function (large effects, p = 0.001, SMD = 0.94), neuromuscular function (moderate effects, p = 0.003, SMD = 0.70), and physical function (moderate effects, p = 0.04, SMD = 0.55 and p = 0.009, SMD = −0.59). Additionally, the results suggested that interventions with ten weeks or more, performed three times a week, provide significant improvements in neuromuscular function. In this sense, HSRT is effective for improving overall health outcomes in older adults. Future studies should include proper follow-ups (e.g., minimum six months) to assess the durability of HSRT intervention effects on all health-related variables.

Comparison of Velocity and Percentage-based Training on Maximal Strength：Meta-Analysis

The purpose was to analyze the comparison of velocity-based resistance training and one-repetition maximum (%1RM) percentage-based training in maximal strength improvement by meta-analyzing and to find the reasons for the controversial findings of different studies. Ten studies were included in the systematic review and seven were subjected to meta-analysis. A total of 139 subjects were selected from the included articles after exclusion, including athletes of different specialties (N=93) and non-athletes mainly from fitness groups (N=46). The overall effect size was SMD=0.26 (95%CL 0.03 to 0.49, P=0.03, I²=0). As for the comparison of the analysis of different intervention objects as subgroups, the effect size of athletes as the subgroup was 0.35 (95%CI 0.06 to 0.64, p=0.02, I²=0), indicating that in the RCT with athletes as the intervention target, the effect of VBRT in improving the maximal strength was significantly different from that of PBT. Velocity-based resistance training might be more effective than percentage-based training in maximal strength improvement, in which velocity-based resistance training is more suitable for athletes in season, while percentage-based training is more suitable for the general sports population. More high-quality researches should deal with the effect of other athletic performance with velocity-based resistance training in the future.

Body weight multicomponent program improves power and functional capacity responses in older adults: A quasi-experimental study

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of multicomponent training with body weight on functional capacity response and power in aging persons. Twenty-seven active older women were assigned for convenience to control (active CG) or multicomponent training groups (MTG). The two groups exercised for 10 weeks, the active CG carried out the usual activities of the community service program, while the MTG followed a multicomponent training program. The countermovement and squat jump height (cm), medicine ball throwing distance (cm), time (s) to complete the tests: chair stand, timed up and go, and stair ascent and descent with 8 steps, and the total number of repetitions during 30 s of the tests: chair stand and arm curl were evaluated before (baseline) and after (post-training) the training period. For all analyses, we used estimation statistics, which focus on the effect size of the experiment/intervention, as opposed to significance testing. Changes over 10 weeks showed a large effect (d, >0.8) favoring the multicomponent training group compared to the active control group for all functional capacity performance and power variables (p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, body weight multicomponent training is effective for improving basic functional capacity and upper and lower limb power abilities.

Load-velocity relationship in the horizontal leg-press exercise in older women and men

This study analyzed the predictive ability of movement velocity to estimate the relative load (i.e., % of one-repetition maximum [1RM]) during the horizontal leg-press exercise in older women and men. Twenty-four women and fourteen men living in community-dwelling centers volunteered to participate in this study. All participants performed a progressive loading test up to 1RM in the horizontal leg-press. The fastest peak velocity (PV) and mean velocity (MV) attained with each weight were collected for analysis. Linear regression equations were modeled for women and men. We observed very strong linear relationships between both velocity variables and the relative load in the horizontal leg-press in women (PV: r² = 0.93 and standard error of the estimate (SEE) = 5.96% 1RM; MV: r² = 0.94 and SEE = 5.59% 1RM) and men (PV: r² = 0.93 and SEE = 5.96% 1RM; MV: r² = 0.94 and SEE = 5.97% 1RM). The actual 1RM and the estimated 1RM using both the PV and MV presented trivial differences and very strong relationships (r = 0.98-0.99) in both sexes. Men presented significantly higher (p < 0.001-0.05) estimated PV and MV against all relative loads compared to women (average PV = 0.81 vs. 0.69 m·s^-1 and average MV = 0.44 vs. 0.38 m·s^-1). Our data suggest that movement velocity accurately estimates the relative load during the horizontal leg-press in older women and men. Coaches and researchers can use the proposed sex-specific regression equations in the horizontal leg-press to implement velocity-monitored resistance training with older adults.

An Experimental Study on the Validity and Reliability of a Smartphone Application to Acquire Temporal Variables during the Single Sit-to-Stand Test with Older Adults

Smartphone sensors have often been proposed as pervasive measurement systems to assess mobility in older adults due to their ease of use and low-cost. This study analyzes a smartphone-based application’s validity and reliability to quantify temporal variables during the single sit-to-stand test with institutionalized older adults. Forty older adults (20 women and 20 men; 78.9 ± 8.6 years) volunteered to participate in this study. All participants performed the single sit-to-stand test. Each sit-to-stand repetition was performed after an acoustic signal was emitted by the smartphone app. All data were acquired simultaneously with a smartphone and a digital video camera. The measured temporal variables were stand-up time and total time. The relative reliability and systematic bias inter-device were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. In contrast, absolute reliability was assessed using the standard error of measurement and coefficient of variation (CV). Inter-device concurrent validity was assessed through correlation analysis. The absolute percent error (APE) and the accuracy were also calculated. The results showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.92–0.97; CV = 1.85–3.03) and very strong relationships inter-devices for the stand-up time (r = 0.94) and the total time (r = 0.98). The APE was lower than 6%, and the accuracy was higher than 94%. Based on our data, the findings suggest that the smartphone application is valid and reliable to collect the stand-up time and total time during the single sit-to-stand test with older adults.