Muscle function and mobility biomechanics in the elderly: an overview of some recent research

Many old adults have difficulty in performing activities of daily living, in maintenance of postural balance, and in recovering from impending falls. It is not yet fully clear to what extent these difficulties arise from age, or disease-related declines in muscle function. The strength requirements for the performance of many common physical tasks are not often large. When the time available to make an appropriate response is short, maximum joint torque strengths may not be as important a consideration as abilities to develop joint torques rapidly. Even old adults who are fit and healthy, compared to young adults, have substantially diminished abilities to do this. Recent findings suggest that the source of this decline, at least sometimes, lies in muscle physiology more so than in central processing delays. A considerable amount of research to explore the issues relevant to the relations among muscle function and mobility is currently underway, but much remains to be learned.