Tailored Versus Traditional Resistance Exercise

A Tailored Intervention to Prevent Age-Related Declines in Muscle Power and Functional Ability

Preserving functional ability is crucial for healthy aging. Unfortunately, age-related decreases in muscle power often lead to declines in functional ability. As power is the product of force and velocity, decreases in power can originate from changes in muscle force, contraction velocity, or both, varying between individuals. The primary method to prevent functional disability is power-based resistance training. Although training interventions are effective for most older adults, they do not induce substantial improvements in a subset of the population. These inconsistent outcomes may arise from neglecting the observed differences in the force-velocity (F-v) profiles between individuals. Therefore, this study provides a novel approach to resistance exercise, in which exercise dose is tailored according to the individual's F-v profile. The effectiveness of the tailored method will be assessed in a randomized control trial, comparing the effects of an individualized and a non-individualized 12-week training intervention on muscle power parameters and functional ability.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise Training
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: 12-week progressive power-oriented resistance exercise program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Vlaams-Brabant
    • Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium, 3000
      • KU Leuven - Department of Movement Sciences

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Community-dwelling adults
• 65-80 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

• Systematic engagement in resistance exercise during the past year
• Unstable cardiovascular disease, neuromuscular disease, acute infection or fever
• Recent surgery
• Lower-extremity injuries
• Low levels of functional ability (i.e., SPPB score ≤ 9)
• Cognitive malfunctioning (i.e., Mini-Mental State Examination < 24)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Individualized resistance exercise program; Individualized exercise dose. Individuals with a velocity deficit only perform low-load exercises. Individuals with a force deficit only perform high-load exercises.	Other: 12-week progressive power-oriented resistance exercise program; 2x/week, 35-45 min sessions, on leg press machine
Active Comparator: Non-individualized resistance exercise program; Non-individualized exercise dose. All individuals perform a combination of low-load and high-load resistance exercises, regardless of their deficit.	Other: 12-week progressive power-oriented resistance exercise program; 2x/week, 35-45 min sessions, on leg press machine

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maximal force (F0)	Unilateral (dominant leg) maximal force production (N) on the pneumatic leg press device (Leg Press Air 400, Keiser, USA). The test protocol consists of 2 sets of 1 repetition with increasing loads (5-10 kg increments), starting at 20% of body mass. When the participants fail to lift a certain load, the load will be decreased by 2.5-5 kg until their one repetition maximum (1-RM) is reached. The duration of the recovery time between sets will be based on the mean velocity in the preceding repetition, with longer rest periods after high-load, low-velocity attempts. Mean velocity of the best trial per load is used to estimate the individual F-v relationship through a linear equation. This F-v relationship will be used to examine the exercise-induced changes in maximal force.	Change from baseline in maximal force at 12 weeks
Maximal velocity (V0)	Unilateral (dominant leg) maximal velocity production (m/s) on the pneumatic leg press device (Leg Press Air 400, Keiser, USA). The test protocol consists of 2 sets of 1 repetition with increasing loads (5-10 kg increments), starting at 20% of body mass. When the participants fail to lift a certain load, the load will be decreased by 2.5-5 kg until their one repetition maximum (1-RM) is reached. The duration of the recovery time between sets will be based on the mean velocity in the preceding repetition, with longer rest periods after high-load, low-velocity attempts. Mean velocity of the best trial per load is used to estimate the individual F-v relationship through a linear equation. This F-v relationship will be used to examine the exercise-induced changes in maximal velocity.	Change from baseline in maximal velocity at 12 weeks
Force-velocity slope	Unilateral (dominant leg) force-velocity (F-v) slope on the pneumatic leg press device (Leg Press Air 400, Keiser, USA). F-v slope = force (N) as a function of velocity (m/s). The test protocol consists of 2 sets of 1 repetition with increasing loads (5-10 kg increments), starting at 20% of body mass. When the participants fail to lift a certain load, the load will be decreased by 2.5-5 kg until their one repetition maximum (1-RM) is reached. The duration of the recovery time between sets will be based on the mean velocity in the preceding repetition, with longer rest periods after high-load, low-velocity attempts. Mean velocity of the best trial per load is used to estimate the individual F-v relationship through a linear equation. This F-v relationship will be used to examine the exercise-induced changes in slope.	Change from baseline in F-v slope at 12 weeks
Maximal power (P0)	Unilateral (dominant leg) maximal power production (Watt) on the pneumatic leg press device (Leg Press Air 400, Keiser, USA). The test protocol consists of 2 sets of 1 repetition with increasing loads (5-10 kg increments), starting at 20% of body mass. When the participants fail to lift a certain load, the load will be decreased by 2.5-5 kg until their one repetition maximum (1-RM) is reached. The duration of the recovery time between sets will be based on the mean velocity in the preceding repetition, with longer rest periods after high-load, low-velocity attempts. Mean velocity of the best trial per load is used to estimate the individual F-v relationship through a linear equation. This F-v relationship will be used to examine the exercise-induced changes in maximal power.	Change from baseline in maximal power at 12 weeks
Force at maximal power	Unilateral (dominant leg) force at maximal power production (N) on the pneumatic leg press device (Leg Press Air 400, Keiser, USA). The test protocol consists of 2 sets of 1 repetition with increasing loads (5-10 kg increments), starting at 20% of body mass. When the participants fail to lift a certain load, the load will be decreased by 2.5-5 kg until their one repetition maximum (1-RM) is reached. The duration of the recovery time between sets will be based on the mean velocity in the preceding repetition, with longer rest periods after high-load, low-velocity attempts. Mean velocity of the best trial per load is used to estimate the individual F-v relationship through a linear equation. This F-v relationship will be used to examine the exercise-induced changes in force at maximal power.	Change from baseline in force at maximal power at 12 weeks
Velocity at maximal power	Unilateral (dominant leg) velocity at maximal power production (m/s) on the pneumatic leg press device (Leg Press Air 400, Keiser, USA). The test protocol consists of 2 sets of 1 repetition with increasing loads (5-10 kg increments), starting at 20% of body mass. When the participants fail to lift a certain load, the load will be decreased by 2.5-5 kg until their one repetition maximum (1-RM) is reached. The duration of the recovery time between sets will be based on the mean velocity in the preceding repetition, with longer rest periods after high-load, low-velocity attempts. Mean velocity of the best trial per load is used to estimate the individual F-v relationship through a linear equation. This F-v relationship will be used to examine the exercise-induced changes in velocity at maximal power.	Change from baseline in velocity at maximal power at 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exercise adherence	Number of sessions attended as a percentage of total sessions planned	Total adherence over 12-week period
Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score	Total score on the SPPB (min 0, max 12, higher scores indicate better performance)	Change from baseline in SPPB test score at 12 weeks
Gait speed	The average speed (m/s) to walk 10m as fast as possible	Change from baseline in gait speed at 12 weeks
Countermovement jump height	The jump height (cm) in a countermovement jump	Change from baseline in countermovement jump height at 12 weeks
Timed up and go	The time (s) needed to stand up from a chair, walk 3 m, turn, walk back and sit down again (as fast as possible)	Change from baseline in timed up and go time at 12 weeks
5-repetition sit-to-stand time	The time (s) needed to perform 5 sit-to-stand transitions	Change from baseline in sit-to-stand performance at 12 weeks
5-repetition sit-to-stand power	The power (watt) needed to perform 5 sit-to-stand transitions	Change from baseline in sit-to-stand performance at 12 weeks
Stair ascent time	The time (s) needed to ascend a flight of stairs	Change from baseline in stair climbing performance at 12 weeks
Stair ascent power	The power (Watt) needed to ascend a flight of stairs	Change from baseline in stair climbing performance at 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 20, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 4, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): December 4, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 5, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 5, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 10, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 17, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 8, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: S68434

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No