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Strength training at high versus low external resistance in older adults: Effects on muscle volume, muscle strength, and force–velocity characteristics

Van Roie, Evelien, Delecluse, Christophe, Coudyzer, Walter, Boonen, Steven, Bautmans, Ivan·2013·Experimental Gerontology
DOI 10.1016/j.exger.2013.08.010
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Abstract

Muscle adaptations can be induced by high-resistance exercise. Despite being potentially more suitable for older adults, low-resistance exercise protocols have been less investigated. We compared the effects of high- and low-resistance training on muscle volume, muscle strength, and force-velocity characteristics. Fifty-six older adults were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of leg press and leg extension training at either HIGH (2×10-15 repetitions at 80% of one repetition maximum (1RM)), LOW (1×80-100 repetitions at 20% of 1RM), or LOW+ (1×60 repetitions at 20% of 1RM, followed by 1×10-20 repetitions at 40% of 1RM). All protocols ended with muscle failure. Leg press and leg extension of 1RM were measured at baseline and post intervention and before the first training session in weeks 5 and 9. At baseline and post intervention, muscle volume (MV) was measured by CT-scan. A Biodex dynamometer evaluated knee extensor static peak torque in different knee angles (PT(stat90°), PT(stat120°), PT(stat150°)), dynamic peak torque at different speeds (PT(dyn60°s)(-1), PT(dyn180°s)(-1), PT(dyn240°s)(-1)), and speed of movement at 20% (S20), 40% (S40), and 60% (S60) of PTstat90°. HIGH and LOW+ resulted in greater improvements in 1RM strength than LOW (p<0.05). These differences were already apparent after week 5. Similar gains were found between groups in MV, PT(stat), PT(dyn60°s)(-1), and PT(dyn180°s)(-1). No changes were reported in speed of movement. HIGH tended to improve PT(dyn240°s)(-1) more than LOW or LOW+ (p=0.064). In conclusion, high- and low-resistance exercises ending with muscle failure may be similarly effective for hypertrophy. High-resistance training led to a higher increase in 1RM strength than low-resistance training (20% of 1RM), but this difference disappeared when using a mixed low-resistance protocol in which the resistance was intensified within a single exercise set (40% of 1RM). Our findings support the need for more research on low-resistance programs in older age, in particular long-term training studies and studies focusing on residual effects after training cessation.

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  • Other age-, sex-, or ethnicity-related differences between participants were not accounted for, although they are important determinants of the decrease in muscle power with increasing age.

    “Other age- (young old versus oldest old), sex-, or ethnicity-related differences between participants were also not accounted for, but are important determinants of the decrease in muscle power with increasing age [11, 13, 44].”

    From Effectiveness of power training compared to strength training in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [44]

  • Findings on isokinetic strength are conflicting; some studies show a benefit of heavy load training, others show a benefit to low-load training, and yet others show no differences between conditions.

    “the findings from available evidence are conflicting; some studies show a benefit of heavy load training [27,28], others show a benefit to low-load training [29] and yet others show no differences between conditions on this metric [30,31].”

    From Loading recommendations for muscle strength, hypertrophy, and local endurance: a re-examination of the repetition continuum. (2021) · cites this paper as [28]

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Authors
Van Roie, E., Delecluse, C., Coudyzer, W., Boonen, S., & Bautmans, I.
Affiliations
  • KU Leuven (BE)
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
ORCID
Venue
Experimental Gerontology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-11
Volume
48
Issue
11
Pages
1351-1361
ISSN
0531-5565 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.exger.2013.08.010
OpenAlex
W2070935373
Cited by
178
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 13
FWCI
13.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Experimental Gerontology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium (FWO-Vlaanderen)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
Keywords
resistance training, older adults, muscle hypertrophy, muscle volume, muscle strength, force-velocity relationship, quadriceps strength, leg press, leg extension, muscle failure, movement speed, one-repetition maximum, muscle adaptation, sarcopenia prevention, muscular endurance
MeSH terms
Aged, Aging, Biomechanical Phenomena, Female, Humans, Hypertrophy, Male, Middle Aged, Muscle, Skeletal, Muscle Fatigue, Torque, Muscle Strength, Resistance Training

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