How our leg power changes as we get older
Ten‐year longitudinal changes in muscle power, force, and velocity in young, middle‐aged, and older adults
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study looked at how fast and strong people's legs get over 10 years as they age. It found that leg power goes down slowly when we're young but faster when we're older, especially after 60.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 546 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study looked at how fast and strong people's legs get over 10 years as they age. It found that leg power goes down slowly when we're young but faster when we're older, especially after 60.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 546 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Publication
Authors
Alcazar J, Rodriguez-Lopez C, Delecluse C, Thomis M, Van Roie E
Related Content
Claims (6)
As people get older, their leg muscle power slowly gets weaker — and it starts to drop faster after age 60. A long-term study found that this loss speeds up with age and could be a sign of overall physical decline as we get older.
As people in their younger and middle years get older, their muscle power relative to body weight drops faster than total muscle power—partly because BMI tends to go up, making it harder to stay strong for your size.
As people get older, their muscles get worse at staying strong when moving quickly — and this gets worse by about 0.1% each year after middle age.
As we get older, we lose certain powerful muscle fibers faster than others, which can lead to weakness, falls, and trouble moving around — and this muscle decline can actually show how fast someone is aging on the inside.
As people get older, their muscles lose power — but how that happens changes over time. Younger adults mostly lose strength, while older adults lose both strength and speed, meaning different things go wrong in the body as we age.