Associations Among Muscular Strength, Aerobic Fitness, and Fatigue Resistance in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
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Community-dwelling older adults often experience concurrent declines in muscular strength, aerobic fitness, and tolerance to repeated physical effort, and these changes may undermine independence even before overt disability is apparent. This study examined the associations among muscular strength, aerobic fitness, and fatigue resistance in older men living independently in the community. In a cross-sectional analytical design, 156 men aged 60–84 years completed assessments of handgrip strength, 30-s chair-stand performance, 6-minute walk distance, estimated peak oxygen uptake, and a repeated sit-to-stand fatigue-resistance protocol, together with anthropometric and health screening procedures. Normality was evaluated using the Shapiro–Wilk test, group differences across fatigue-resistance tertiles were examined with one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine whether strength and aerobic fitness were independently associated with fatigue resistance. Participants with high fatigue resistance were younger and demonstrated greater handgrip strength (39.8 ± 4.2 kg), better chair-stand performance (14.3 ± 1.8 repetitions), longer 6-minute walk distance (549 ± 35 m), and higher estimated VO₂peak (26.1 ± 2.5 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) than those with low fatigue resistance (32.7 ± 4.5 kg, 11.4 ± 1.6 repetitions, 446 ± 37 m, and 21.6 ± 2.2 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹, respectively; all p < 0.001). Fatigue resistance was inversely associated with handgrip strength (r = -0.62, p < 0.001), chair-stand performance (r = -0.60, p < 0.001), 6-minute walk distance (r = -0.69, p < 0.001), and estimated VO₂peak (r = -0.69, p < 0.001). In hierarchical regression, both handgrip strength (β = -0.25, p = 0.003) and 6-minute walk distance (β = -0.38, p < 0.001) remained independently associated with fatigue resistance after adjustment for age, body mass index, and comorbidity burden (model R² = 0.58). These findings suggest that muscular strength and aerobic fitness contribute in complementary ways to fatigue resistance in community-dwelling older men and support exercise strategies that integrate resistance and aerobic training to preserve daily function and physical resilience.
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