Determinants of peak muscle power: effects of age and physical conditioning

Abstract

The relationships between absolute peak muscle power (Wpeak), muscle cross sectional area (CSAtot, i.e. the sum of both thigh and calf CSA) and muscle high energy phosphate concentration (adenosine 5'-triphosphate [ATP] and phosphocreatine concentrations [PC]) were studied in 47 subjects classified into five groups: A, 10 sedentary (S) subjects aged 20-35 years; B, 9 S aged 35-50 years; C, 9 S aged more than 50 years; D, 13 children aged 8-13 years; and E, 6 athletes (top level volleyball players) aged 24 (SD 3) years. The Wpeak was measured during a maximal vertical high jump off both feet on a force platform. The CSAtot was measured anthropometrically. The [ATP] and [PC] were determined by 31Phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The Wpeak decreased with age, was 65% lower in D than in A, and 43% higher in E than in A. The CSAtot did not vary with age, was 45% smaller in D than in A, and 15% greater in E than in A. The [ATP] and [PC] were essentially the same in all groups. The changes observed in Wpeak were only partially accounted for by changes in CSAtot. Therefore, in addition to the variables investigated, other factors appear to have been involved in the determination of Wpeak with increasing age and training. An important role may be played by hormonal, particularly at puberty, and neural factors.

Energy Metabolism in Children and Adolescents

“…That was the first work where age changes in possible human anaerobic -glycolytic source at the tissue level were discovered. Next by means of biochemical (Eriksson, 1980;Ferretti et al, 1994;Kornienko et al, 1980;Ratel et al, 2002), histochemical (Tambovtseva, 2003;Kornienko et al, 2000) and physiological (Kornienko et al, 2000;Pyarnat & Viru, 1975;Son'kin, 1988;) methods numerous confirmations of an abrupt activation of anaerobic -glycolytic energy production in the process of pubescence reconstructions were obtained, especially for boys (Boisseau & Delamarche, 2000;Van Praagh & Dore, 2002).…”

“…Orchotomy has the opposite results (Musaeva, 1986;Son'kin & Tambovtseva, 2011). Probably, male sex hormones play a role that is not less significant in formation of a morphological-functional status of human skeletal muscles (Boisseau & Delamarche, 2000;Ferretti et al, 1994;Jansson, 1996;Round et al, 1999;Tambovtseva & Kornienko, 1986;Van Praagh & Dore, 2002). It is remarkable that for girls the same effects of pubescence processes on the structure and function of their skeletal muscles are not revealed (Petersen et al, 1999;Tambovtseva, 2003;Treuth et al, 2001), which can be explained by various structuralmetabolic consequences of androgen and estrogen effects.…”

Energetics of Muscular Exercise

“…It decreases with age (Bonnefoy et al 1998;Chamari et al 1995;Ferretti et al 1994;Grassi et al 1991) and is lower in women than in men (Batterham and Birch 1996;Murphy et al 1986). These patterns follow differences in active muscle mass.…”

“…The maximal anaerobic power, whether instantaneous or average, is more elevated in power athletes and lower in endurance athletes than in non-athletic individuals (Chamari et al 1995;di Prampero et al 1970;Ferretti et al 1994). …”

Assessment of the level of muscular strength and volume in physically active English adults

“…It is also related to a reduction in the activity of Adenosine Triphosphatases or ATPase (Ferreti et al, 1987;Ferreti et al, 1994). Also, the hypotheses that states that reduction in explosive strength is associated to a decrease in the capability of the neuromuscular system to quickly activate the muscles -due to a degeneration of motoneurons (Davies et al, 1985) -should not be disregarded (Häkkinen & Häkkinen, 1995).…”