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Impact of mixed power training on fall predictors and gait parameters in community-dwelling older men
Kia Salimi1,2, Emma Richard2,3, Marianne Laliberté1,2
1Département de Sciences de L'activité Physique, Université du Québec À Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Purpose:
This study investigated whether spatio-temporal gait parameters are related to adaptations in fall predictors following mixed power training (MPT) in older men.
Methods:
Twenty-one inactive community-dwelling older men (age: 67 ± 6 years; BMI: 25 ± 3 kg/m2; walking speed: 1.45 ± 0.23 m/s) completed a 12-week MPT (3 sessions/week; 1 h/session). Spatio-temporal gait parameters, muscle function (muscle strength and power), and functional capacity (Timed Up and Go, 20-s stair test, unipodal balance [x/60 s] and gait parameters) were assessed pre- and post-intervention. In addition, participants were divided into 2 groups for selected fall/mobility predictors as responders (delta change Δ% ≥ 10%) vs. non-responders (Δ% < 10%).
Results:
Muscle strength (p = 0.04) and power (p = 0.003) Timed Up and Go (p = 0.035), stair test (p = 0.041), unipodal balance (p = 0.031), and some gait parameters [stride speed, stride duration and cadence] (p < 0.05) improved significantly following the MPT. Only absolute muscle strength improvement was correlated with certain gait parameters (walk ratio, cadence, stride duration, and speed: p < 0.05) between responders & non-responders.
Conclusions:
This study confirms that 12 weeks of MPT improves muscle function, functional capacity and gait parameters. However, the adaptation of gait parameters appears almost unrelated to the clinical improvement of fall/mobility predictors in older men.
