Fast Power Training vs Slow Resistance Training for Older Adults

Should we implement high velocity power training for health older adults?

As a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® practicing physiotherapy, I am always manipulating different training variables to elicit different outcomes. Back then as a Kinesiology student, I was volunteering at a geriatric physiotherapy clinic. All the exercise equipment available were thin Therabands, up to 2lb dumbbells, and up to 2lb ankle weights. Every one did knee extensions with 0.5lb - 2lb ankle weights.

We know that among older adults, lower body power is a strong predictor of physical performance, functional mobility, and inversely associated with risk of falling and self-reported disability (1). This led me to ask: how can we make the most out of our time working with our older adult population in rehab or training? In the following commentary, I first lay the foundation of resistance training concepts, then break down a systematic review on this topic, and end with a practical recommendation on power training (PT) with older adults.

Resistance Training Concepts and Approaches

Power refers to the product of force and velocity. Hence, power output can be improved by an increase in force development and/or increase in velocity. Let’s first understand how force and velocity is applied to resistance training. Force is how much resistance someone is working against, typically expressed in percentage of their 1-repitition maximum (%1RM). Velocity is how fast someone is moving the weight. The force-velocity relationship of muscle dictates that the heavier a weight is being moved, the slower the movement will be. You can move a 5lb weight a lot faster than a 35lb weight. The Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID) principle states that the body will adapt to the specific demands that are placed on it. As such, when one trains to move against a resistance as fast as they can, their ability to move quickly under resistance will improve more than one who trains at a slow speed. Such a person will be able to have a higher peak velocity at their peak power production, whereas one who trains with more resistance at a slower speed will adapt to produce peak power at a higher peak force and not necessarily a high peak velocity. However, if both are moving the same weight, the one who tries to move the weight faster, i.e., giving a greater intensity of effort, will have superior training adaptations in power generation (2).

The traditional approach to training older adults, is strength training (ST) that typically emphasizes a slow speed movement against a relatively high external resistance at a slow speed (>65%1RM, spending 2-4 seconds in the concentric (shortening) phase) (3). A PT approach to training older adults is characterized by instructing older adults to move “as fast as possible” during the concentric phase of the movement.

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis titled “Effectiveness of power training compared to strength training in older adults” concluded that there is a significant benefit of PT on all reported outcomes, including muscle power and performance in functional tests (4). Despite this article’s strengths, there remain noteworthy limitations. I reviewed all the training protocols of the studies that the systematic review included in their analysis and realized that studies vary greatly in how they implement PT and ST.

Comments on the Systematic Review

One of the inclusion criteria that the systematic review had was “the authors defined their intervention as power training” (4). This means that as long as the authors of the study called their training PT, the study meets this inclusion criteria. This left room for a lot of heterogeneity (i.e., difference in methods) between the studies, as pointed out by the review authors. Taking a deeper look into the studies included in the review, I identified 5 types of studies (Table 1). There was no such distinction when the included studies were analyzed in the review.

Table 1. Among the studies included in the systematic review, there are five different types of studies. Most studies differentiate their PT and ST by movement speed during the concentric phase of the lift. However, some used the same load, some used different loads. One study even adopted different repetition schemes between PT and ST. 

PT vs ST study types	Load	Repetition scheme	Movement speed
Type one (5-9)	Same (%1RM modulated)	Same	PT: as fast as possible in the concentric, 2-3s in the eccentric ST: 2-3s in concentric and eccentric phase
Type two (10-13)	Different (PT < ST)	Same
Type three (14, 15)	Same (Rate of Perceived Exertion modulated)	Same
Type four (16)	Different (PT < ST)	Different
Type five (17, 18)	Different (PT < ST)	Same	Both as fast as possible in concentric, 2-3s in eccentric

Since most studies fall in the type one or two, I shall focus my commentary on these two and how they are fundamentally different types of studies. For the first type of PT, because PT participants were exerting greater intensity of effort to move the same weight (~60-90%1RM) faster than their ST counterparts, they resulted in greater muscle power (5, 6, 8) and greater functional performance (5, 7). From a strength and conditioning coach’s perspective, this type of PT simply confirms the existing strength training literature—a greater intention to move explosively has a superior effect in enhancing training outcomes as compared to slow movement speed (19). Only one study in this category documented the power output by participants during training. Inevitably, the PT group was training with a much higher power output because they were moving the weights as fast as they can (6). Recalling the SAID principle, this explains why this type of PT reliably improves muscle power more than ST.

For the second main type of PT, the participants used a lighter weight than their ST counterparts. Based on the force-velocity relationship, these participants would actually be able to move at a much faster speed during their training. Two studies reported greater muscle power gain in the PT group compared to the ST group (10, 13) and two found greater functional performance in the PT group compared to the ST group, despite similar gains in muscle power and strength (11, 12). These findings raise an interesting point: training with lighter weights (~20-75%1RM) with an intention to move explosively resulted in similar strength gains than using heavier weights (~70-90%1RM), and sometimes greater power output and better functional outcomes for older adults.

Comparing High Velocity Power Training and Low Velocity Resistance Training

Recall that power is a function of force and velocity. Researchers have found that muscle power developed at high velocities (at 40%1RM) was a better indicator of functional outcomes than either strength (1RM) or muscle power at slower velocities (at 70%1RM) (20,21). Unfortunately, none of the studies included in the systematic review broke down muscle power into its components and explore the adaptations in each of these. To add to our understanding of velocity dependent-PT, we must look to other studies for this information. 

In the following, “High Velocity Power Training” (HVPT) refers to training that used a lower resistance to facilitate faster movements, and “Low Velocity Resistance Training” (LVRT) refers to training that uses a higher resistance with slower movement speeds. To compare HVPT and LVRT and understand their effects on force and velocity adaptations respectively, studies  broke down muscle power measurement into 1) peak power velocity (the velocity of movement at which peak power was produced) and 2) peak power force (the muscle force generated at which peak power was produced). Studies showed that:

1. HVPT and LVRT similarly improved muscle power at all percentages of 1RM (i.e., from light weights to heavy weights) (22). However, HVPT showed greater peak power velocity than LVRT (22).

2. Both HVPT and LVRT led to improvement in muscle power and 1RM strength, but HVPT participants shifted their peak power to a lower external resistance (from 67% 1RM to 52% 1RM), thus increasing the velocity component of the power production according to the force-velocity relationship (23).

3. LVRT improved peak power output mainly by increasing the peak power force, while HVPT improved peak power mainly by improving peak power velocity (24).

4. HVPT can also lead to greater velocity of movement against a range of external resistance of 40-60%1RM compared to LVRT (25).

If both HVPT and LVRT can improve muscle power, but HVPT can better improve movement velocity, which is an important indicator of functional outcome, it is worth investing time in doing HVPT with older adults.

Recommendations

It is suggested that the load of the exercises be 40-75% 1RM, maximizing the velocity of the concentric (shortening) phase and the eccentric (lengthening) phase should take 2-3 seconds (10-13). Six to ten repetitions in each set are recommended but a small number of repetitions is preferable (26). The number of sets of each exercise can be anywhere from 1-5 sets and the rest time can be between 1-3 minutes, depending on the level of the individual performing the exercises (26).

To conclude, implementing HVPT specifically for older adults is effective for improving muscle power, specifically peak power velocity and movement velocities against a range of resistances. However, PT that emphasizes movement speed in general would still be greatly beneficial for older adults according to the systematic review (4). That being said, exercise prescription should be individualized to the person’s need. Depending on the person’s needs and preferences as well as time and resources available, a mix of training methods can be used.

Originally published:

Tiu T. Should we implement high velocity power training for healthy older adults? An application of strength and conditioning principles to older adults training regimes. rehabINK. 2023:15. Available from: https://rehabinkmag.com/2023/07/24/should-we-implement-high-velocity-power-training-for-healthy-older-adults-an-application-of-strength-and-conditioning-principles-to-older-adult-training-regimes/

References

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