Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 23 pp 24081—24100
Minimizing sedentary behavior (without increasing medium-to-vigorous exercise) associated functional improvement in older women is somewhat dependent on a measurable increase in muscle size
- 1 Research Centre for Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Sports and Exercise Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
- 2 MRC Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Nottingham Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK
Received: April 22, 2020 Accepted: October 19, 2020 Published: December 3, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202265How to Cite
Copyright: © 2020 Grant et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The optimal pattern of sedentarism displacement and mechanisms underlying its health effects are poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to quantify muscle-tendon adaptation in response to two different sedentarism displacement interventions and relate any adaptations to functional outcomes. Thirty-four older women (73±5yrs) underwent skeletal muscle-tendon size and functional assessments. Participants were randomly allocated to: Sedentary behavior fragmentation (SBF), Light intensity physical activity (LIPA), or Control groups. Measures were taken at weeks 0 and 8. Gait speed significantly increased (p=0.003), in both experimental groups (SBF: 0.06 ± 0.08m/s, 6±10%, LIPA: 0.06 ± 0.07m/s, 6±6%), but not control (-0.02 ± 0.12m/s, -2±9%). Accordingly, the relative change in Vastus Lateralis muscle volume, accounted for 30% (p=0.027), and 45% (p=0.0006) of the explained variance in the relative change in gait speed, for SBF and LIPA respectively. Gastrocnemius Medialis fascicle length changes were positively associated with gait speed changes, following LIPA exclusively (R2= 0.50, p=0.009). This is the first study to show SBF and LIPA are adequate loading in older women, with related muscle adaptation and clinically relevant gait speed improvements. Such adaptations appear similar irrespective of whether sedentarism displacement is prescribed in a single bout (LIPA) or in frequent micro-bouts (SBF).