Welcome to PhysioU’s Mentoring Minutes! Each episode of Mentoring Minutes directly applies a clinical approach with relevant research for effective results.

Notes:

Muscle power (force x velocity) declines earlier & faster with age than strength or endurance.
- Elderly fallers in community & nursing homes show less power in lower limbs than non-fallers.
10-weeks of power training improves balance in healthy elderly adults.
High speed resistance training improves functional performance and quality of life in healthy elderly females.
Low load power training (20% 1RM) demonstrates greatest improvement in balance when compared to higher loads.
- Power improves to the same degree across load ranges.
Power training shows low amount of adverse events in healthy elderly adults (it’s safe)
Cluster sets demonstrate better outcomes for functional performance measures than traditional sets.
- Cluster set: 30 sec rest after 2 consecutive reps (total of 8 reps per set).
- Traditional set: 150 sec rest after 8 consecutive reps.

References:

Orr, R., De Vos, N. J., Singh, N. A., Ross, D. A., Stavrinos, T. M., & Fiatarone-Singh, M. A. (2006). Power training improves balance in healthy older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 61(1), 78-85.

Ramirez-Campillo, R., Alvarez, C., Garcìa-Hermoso, A., Celis-Morales, C., Ramirez-Velez, R., Gentil, P., & Izquierdo, M. (2018). High-speed resistance training in elderly women: effects of cluster training sets on functional performance and quality of life. Experimental gerontology, 110, 216-222.