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Age-related maintenance of eccentric strength: a study of temperature dependence

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Abstract

With adult aging, eccentric strength is maintained better than isometric strength leading to a higher ratio of eccentric/isometric force production (ECC/ISO) in older than younger adults. The purpose was to investigate the ECC/ISO during electrical activation of the adductor pollicis during lengthening (20–320° s−1) contractions in 24 young (n = 12, ∼24 years) and old (n = 12, ∼72 years) males across muscle temperatures (cold ∼19 °C; normal ∼30 °C; warm ∼35 °C). For isometric force, the old were 20–30 % weaker in the normal and cold conditions (P < 0.05) with no difference for the warm condition compared to young (P > 0.05). Half-relaxation time (HRT) did not differ across age for the normal and warm temperatures (P > 0.05), but it slowed significantly for old in the cold condition compared with young (∼15 %; P < 0.05), as well, there was a 20 and 40 % increase in muscle stiffness for the young and old, respectively. ECC/ISO was 50–60 % greater for the cold condition than the normal and warm conditions. There was no age difference in ECC/ISO across ages for the normal and warm conditions (P > 0.05), but for the cold, the old exhibited a 20–35 % higher ECC/ISO than did the young for velocities above 60° s−1 (P < 0.05). A contributing factor to the elevated ECC/ISO is an increased proportion of weakly compared to strongly bound crossbridges. These findings highlight the relationship (r = 0.70) between intrinsic muscle contractile speed (HRT) and eccentric strength in old age.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all those who participated in the study. These data were collected at the University of Calgary and was supported by funding from Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, The Killam Foundation, and the Canada Research Chair Program. B.H. Dalton is supported by a New Investigator Grant from the Medical Research Foundation, Oregon Health and Science University Foundation. G.A. Power was supported by a Banting postdoctoral fellowship (Canadian Institutes for Health Research; CIHR) and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Geoffrey A. Power

  2. Faculty of Kinesiology, Human Performance Laboratory, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Geoffrey A. Power, Nordan Flaaten & Walter Herzog

  3. Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Brian H. Dalton

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  1. Geoffrey A. Power
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  2. Nordan Flaaten
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  4. Walter Herzog
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Correspondence to Geoffrey A. Power.

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This study was approved by the local ethics committee (REB number 15,396) and the procedures conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Power, G.A., Flaaten, N., Dalton, B.H. et al. Age-related maintenance of eccentric strength: a study of temperature dependence. AGE 38, 43 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-016-9905-2

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