Ten-year longitudinal changes in muscle power, force, and velocity in young, middle-aged, and older adults

Background

Maximum muscle power (P_max) is a biomarker of physical performance in all ages. No longitudinal studies have assessed the effects of aging on P_max obtained from the torque-velocity (T-V) relationship, which should be considered the ‘gold standard’. This study evaluated the longitudinal changes in the T-V relationship and P_max of the knee-extensor muscles in young, middle-aged, and older adults after 10 years of follow-up.

Methods

Four hundred eighty-nine subjects (311 men and 178 women; aged 19–68 years) were tested at baseline and after a 10-year follow-up. Anthropometric data, daily protein intake, physical activity level (PAL), and knee-extension muscle function (isometric, isokinetic, and isotonic) were evaluated. A novel hybrid equation combining a linear and a hyperbolic (Hill-type) region was used to obtain the T-V relationship and P_max of the participants, who were grouped by sex and age (young: 20–40 years; middle-aged: 40–60 years; and old: ≥60 years). Linear mixed-effect models were used to assess effects of time, sex, and age on T-V parameters, P_max, and body mass index (BMI). Additional analyses were performed to adjust for changes in daily protein intake and PAL.

Results

P_max decreased in young men (−0.6% per year; P < 0.001), middle-aged men and women (−1.1% to −1.4% per year; P < 0.001), and older men and women (−2.2% to −2.4% per year; P ≤ 0.053). These changes were mainly related to decrements in torque at P_max at early age and to decrements in both torque and velocity at P_max at older age. BMI increased among young and middle-aged adults (0.2% to 0.5% per year; P < 0.001), which led to greater declines in relative P_max in those groups. S/T₀, that is, the linear slope of the T-V relationship relative to maximal torque, exhibited a significant decline over time (−0.10%T₀·rad·s⁻¹ per year; P < 0.001), which was significant among middle-aged men and old men and women (all P < 0.05). Annual changes in PAL index were significantly associated to annual changes in P_max (P = 0.017), so the overall decline in P_max was slightly attenuated in the adjusted model (−5.26 vs. −5.05 W per year; both P < 0.001).

Conclusions

P_max decreased in young, middle-aged, and older adults after a 10-year follow-up. The early declines in P_max seemed to coincide with declines in force, whereas the progressive decline at later age was associated with declines in both force and velocity. A progressively blunted ability to produce force, especially at moderate to high movement velocities, should be considered a specific hallmark of aging.