Applied Physiology of Strength and Power in Old Age

Abstract

The loss of strength and power in old age has important implications for health. Even with healthy elderly people, cross-sectional comparisons imply a loss of strength at some 1.5% per year and of power at some 3.5% per year (averaged across the age range 65 to 84). On the other hand, healthy, very elderly people are at least as responsive to strength-training as younger adults. It is important to establish whether elderly people derive functional benefit from training-induced improvements in strength and whether laboratory measurements of strength and power might be used to identify those elderly people most at risk of losing important, everyday functional abilities.

Key words

Aged - aged 80 and over - muscles - strength - power - activities of daily living - ageing physiology - human