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Bodyweight Assisted Jumping in Healthy Older Adults: Optimizing High-Velocity Training Prescription

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Kenny Croxdale

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Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber in Older Individuals

One of the issues with older individuals is the decrease in Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber. That loss decreases their Maximum Strength. Power and Speed.

Those components are a part of why they fall and cannot get up. The decrease in Speed and Power means their reaction time when losing their balance (another component of the issue) does not allow them to catch themselves and avoid or minimize the problem.

Once they are down, the don't have enough strength to get up.

While aging contributes to this issue, there is a...

Secondary Contributing Factor

The majority of older individuals (as well as other who don't exercise) don't perform any Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber Training Exercises.

If you don't use it, you lose it.

Plyometric Jumps For Elderly

Tom Morris, M.S. Exercise Physiologist specializes in working with older individuals with their exercise training.

One of the things that he does is have them perform Plyometric Bodyweight Jumps; dropping down into a partials squat and rebounding back up.

Doing so, works and develops their Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber.

As per Morris, older individuals performing Plyometric Jumps may get their feet off the ground/become airborne only a couple of millimeters or centimeters, at most.

Below is some research on...

Assisted Jumping in Healthy Older Adults: Optimizing High-Velocity Training Prescription

Abstract
Tufano, JJ, Vetrovsky, T, Stastny, P, Steffl, M, Malecek, J, and Omcirk, D. Assisted jumping in healthy older adults: optimizing high velocity training prescription. Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2020—Because older adults benefit from power training, training strategies for athletes such as supramaximal velocity–assisted jumping could also be useful for older adults. However, optimizing-assisted exercise prescription in older adults remains uninvestigated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different bodyweight (BW) assistance levels on jumping force and velocity in healthy older adults. Twenty three healthy older adults (67.6 6 7.6 years, 167.0 6 8.8 cm, 72.7 6 14.3 kg, and 27.1 6 6.9% body fat) performed 5 individual countermovement jumps at BW, 90, 80, 70, and 60% of BW. Jumps were performed on a force plate, which provided peak take-off force (TOF), flight time, and peak impact force. A linear position transducer measured peak concentric velocity (PV). The rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was also assessed after each condition. Take-off force was greater during BW than all other conditions, 90 and 80% were greater than 70 and 60%, but there were no differences between 80 and 90% or between 70 and 60%. The FT progressively increased at all assistance levels, and PV (Peak Velocity) was faster for all assistance levels than BW, with no differences between assistance levels. Impact force was greater during BW than 80, 70, and 60% and was greater during 90% than 60%. The RPE was less than BW during all assistance conditions but was the least during 70%. Implementing assisted jumping between 70 and 80% of BW in older adults likely provides the ideal combination of force, velocity, and RPE.

Practical Applications Although this study was conducted in a laboratory setting, it is possible to perform assisted jumping at home or at the gym by using affordable, commercially available elastic bands that can be attached overhead (36). While standing on any standard scale, older adults can grab the elastic bands at different heights, and after pulling their hands to their chest, they can see how much assistance each hand position provides by determining the difference between their normal body weight and the scale weight shown while holding the elastic bands. By marking that location on the band and removing the scale, older adults can simply and affordably perform assisted jumping with the optimized 70–80% BW prescription suggested by our data.

My Experience

This method works for everyone, as a form of "Over Speed Training", such as performing down hill sprints.

Loading the movement with a Weight Vest is effective for younger, stronger individual.

An easier method for attaching the band, rather than hold on to them, is to wrap the band around your back and under your arm pits.

This method of anchoring them reminds me of the "Johnny Jump Up" we put my son in when he was a baby. He loved bouncing up and down. Little did I realized he was performing Plyomertic Training.

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