Rachel and Erica Kralian Millet (both class of 2010), Roche aims to measure the impact of excess weight in leg strength of the subjects, walking speed, and power factor affecting activities of daily living such as rising from a chair or climbing stairs. They found little difference in the absolute strength of the participants were overweight and normal weight, but when his strength-to-weight ratio was calculated, overweight women had an average 24 percent lower than the strength of the study participants normal weight.
“The deficit was even worse when he looked over,” Roche said, adding that power – the rate at which force is applied – is more closely related to physical function and the risk of fall of force. Overweight women demonstrated the power for 38 percent less than normal weight women. Gait speed was significantly slower – about 20 percent – for overweight participants, too.
“Everything suggests that the fact that excess fat was that these people were carrying was actually limiting their mobility,” he says. “Being of normal body weight allows you to perform activities of daily living and live in their own time.”
Based on these results, Roche suggests that normal-weight adults must work to maintain weight and strength as they age. Older adults who are overweight can improve strength and weight, either weight loss or gain strength. Perhaps surprisingly, the data suggest that the latter is the easiest way. Although most people do not succeed in losing weight, “even the older people of age can have a dramatic increase in strength,” said Roche. The key to building strength is muscle fatigue, with eight to fifteen repetitions, a new aspect that many overlook weight training.
Roche has been investigating the effects of force and the exercise of elderly populations for several years, but this is his first foray into the effects of obesity in this population. “I never intended to study the elderly overweight and obesity, but it became obvious to me that being overweight is a growing concern and problematic,” he says.
