The relationship between muscular power and functional fitness among older adults

The purpose of the study was to determine whether functional fitness is a good predictor of average and peak muscular power among adults over the age of 65. The 30-second chair stand and 8-foot-up-and-go test were used to define functional fitness and were administered to 57 older adults. Muscular power output was measured using the Tendo Weightlifting Analyzer during 5 chair stands. Relative average and peak power were used in the analyses. An independent t-test was run on all variables to distinguish differences between men and women, and multiple regression analyses were performed to detect the relationship between the two functional fitness variables and muscular power. There were no differences between genders, and 53.5% variance in both relative average and peak power was accounted for by the functional fitness measures (p ≤ .05). Functional fitness, defined as 30-second chair stand and 8-foot-up-and-go test, is a good predictor of average and peak muscular power