Peak leg muscle power, peak V O₂ and its correlates with physical activity in 57 to 70-year-old women

The two aims of this study were first to measure short-term muscle power (STMP) by means of a cycling force-velocity test (cycling peak power: CPP) and a vertical jump test (jumping peak performance: JPP) and second, to examine the relationships between physical activity (PA) level, peak oxygen uptake (peak V O₂) and STMP in healthy elderly women. Twenty-three independent community-dwelling elderly women (mean age: 64±4.4) performed on separate days, a peak oxygen uptake test on cycle ergometer, a cycling force-velocity test and a vertical jump test. A questionnaire (QUANTAP) was used to assess lifespan exercise habits. Four indices expressed in kJ day⁻¹ kg⁻¹ were calculated. Two indices represented average past PA level: 1/quantity of habitual physical activity (QHPA), 2/quantity of sports activities (QSA).Two indices represented the actual PA level: 3/actual quantity of habitual physical activity (AQHPA), 4/actual quantity of sports activities (AQSA). CPP (6.3±1.2 W kg⁻¹) was closely correlated to JPP (14.8±3.4 cm) (r=0.80, P<0.001). AQHPA and AQSA were only positively associated with peak V O₂ (ml min⁻¹ kg⁻¹) (r=0.49; r=0.50, P<0.05, respectively). Past PA level was not related to fitness measurements. Results show that in this population: (1) jumping peak performance was closely related to CPP measured in the laboratory; (2) the cardio-respiratory fitness was related to the actual habitual physical activity level; (3) only age and anthropometric variables explained the actual performances in multivariate analysis.