Matched loads had no power edge in older adults with speed deficits
A 12-week randomized trial involving 59 older adults with speed deficits found no power or functional advantage from matching exercise loads to that deficit.
80 participants, registered NCT06449716
Limit: The unvalidated deficit classification favored velocity deficits because of reference-group variability
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Adults aged 65 or older with a muscle-speed deficit took part in a 12-week randomized trial of power-focused resistance training. Researchers identified the deficit by comparing force and movement speed on a leg-press machine with results from 60 adults aged 20–35. Speed was more limited than force relative to this younger reference group.
The trial included 59 participants, of whom 57 began training. Participants were randomly assigned to loads either matched or deliberately not matched to their deficit. Maximum force increased more with unmatched loads, while maximum movement speed increased more with matched loads. Changes in muscle power and performance on functional tests did not differ between groups.
Why it matters
Muscle power supports older adults’ ability to carry out everyday activities. This trial addressed whether matching exercise loads to an individual’s force–speed imbalance offers an advantage for improving that capacity.
Caveats
Only 57 participants began training, and the intervention did not include older adults with force deficits. The abstract does not report adverse events.
From the paper
- Participants
Consequently, the final sample for the MID-to-POST analyses comprised 52 participants.
- Result
Accordingly, significant between-group differences in change were observed from PRE to POST in favor of the NON-IND group for both F0 (Δ = −48.6 N, 95% CI –95.1 to −2.2, p = 0.040) and F0·BM−1 (Δ = −0.7 N·kg−1, 95% CI –1.3 to −0.1, p = 0.022).
- Limitation
In addition to the previously described limitations, including the initial improvements associated with exposure to a novel training stimulus and the absence of a non-exercising control group, several other factors should be considered when interpreting the present findings.
Quoted word for word from the full text on onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
- Power-focused resistance training
- Functional performance
- Maximal force
- Maximal power
- Maximal velocity
- Humans
The paper
Physical Activity
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Oct 29, 2026