Advise power training to increase muscle power in your patient

         

Muscle power has prognostic value. For the first time, a new study presented at EuroPrevent 2019, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology has shown that people with more muscle power tend to live longer.

“Power training is carried out by finding the best combination of speed and weight being lifted or moved. For strength training at the gym most people just think about the amount of weight being lifted and the number of repetitions without paying attention to the speed of execution. But for optimal power training results, you should go beyond typical strength training and add speed to your weight lifts,” says Professor Claudio Gil Araújo, director of research and education, Exercise Medicine Clinic – CLINIMEX, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The study enrolled 3,878 non-athletes aged 41–85 years who underwent a maximal muscle power test using the upright row exercise between 2001 and 2016. The highest value achieved after two or three attempts with increasing loads was considered the maximal muscle power and expressed relative to body weight (i.e. power per kg of body weight). Values were divided into quartiles for survival analysis and analyzed separately by sex.

During a median 6.5-year follow-up, 247 men (10%) and 75 women (6%) died. Median power values were 2.5 watts/kg for men and 1.4 watts/kg for women. 

Participants with a maximal muscle power above the median for their sex (i.e. in quartiles three and four) had the best survival. Those in quartiles two and one had, respectively, a 4–5 and 10–13 times higher risk of dying as compared to those above the median in maximal muscle power.

Climbing stairs requires power, while holding or pushing heavy objects needs strength.

Muscle power gradually declines after 40 years of age. Most weight bearing exercises focus on building strength, but simple day to day activities such as rising from a chair in old age require muscle power more than muscle strength.

The study authors recommend that doctors measure muscle power in their patients and advise more power training.

(Source: ESC Press Release, April 12, 2019)

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania   (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA