Artefactum · Aug 26, 2026

EFFECTS OF STRENGTH TRAINING AND WALKING ON FLEXIBILITY, HAND GRIP STRENGTH, AND UPPER AND LOWER LIMB STRENGTH IN ADULTS AND OLDER ADULTS

By Gomes PHDS, Soares HNS, Neta MDLMDR et al.

The aging process is inherent to everyone, making research and discussions necessary to understand the risks and limitations that this process brings to middle-aged adults and the older population. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the effects of strength training and walking on flexibility, handgrip strength, and upper and lower limb strength among adults and older adults. A study was conducted with 25 participants, divided into two groups, strength training practitioners (TF) and walking practitioners (TC) (age 55.96 ± 5.22 years; body mass index 26.34 ± 3.84 kg/m²). To obtain absolute muscle strength, the 10 RM test was used for the following exercises: close-grip row, machine bench press, leg extension, leg curl, and horizontal leg press; a hydraulic handgrip dynamometer was used to measure absolute handgrip strength. Relative handgrip strength (FPMR) was calculated by adding the highest reading from each hand and dividing by IMC; this same calculation was used to obtain relative upper and lower limb strength. Flexibility was measured using the V-sit-and-reach test and the Flexitest. For data analysis, the nonparametric Mann–Whitney test for independent samples was applied to compare the groups, along with Spearman correlation; Pearson's chi-square (X2) test of association was used for categorical variables. All statistical analyses were performed using the statistical software SPSS for Windows version 21.0. A significance level of p < 0.05 was adopted. The results showed a significant difference in strength tests between TF and TC practitioners. A strong correlation was observed between relative FPMR and relative upper limb strength in the machine bench press (p = 0.000) and close-grip row (p = 0.000) exercises, and a moderate correlation between relative FPMR and relative lower limb strength in the horizontal leg press (p = 0.000), leg curl (p = 0.002), and leg extension (p = 0.000) exercises, demonstrating that FPMR may be a marker of overall muscle strength in older adults and adults. Regarding the flexibility tests comparing the TF and TC groups, a significant difference was found in the Flexitest, in which the TF group obtained a mean of (26.93) and the walking group obtained (23.5); in the V-sit-and-reach test, there was no significant difference between the groups. It is concluded that, in the comparison between the groups, there was a significant difference in the strength and flexibility tests, with the TF group showing a significantly higher mean in the strength tests, and the TF group also showing a higher mean in the Flexitest, thus demonstrating that TF provides older adults and adults with better levels of strength and flexibility when compared with TC.

doi.org/10.23900/artefactum.v25i7.3704Open accessInterventions