Muscle strength testing with one repetition maximum in the arm/shoulder for people aged 75 + - test-retest reliability.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the reliability of a muscle strength test of the arm/shoulder in elderly people, aged 75 and older, and to compare subjects with and without previous muscle strength training experience. DESIGN Reliability study - test-retest. SETTING Research centre for the elderly. MAIN MEASURES One repetition maximum (1 RM) was measured using an arm/shoulder strength-training device (Pull Down, Norway). Two measurements were conducted, approximately one week apart. RESULTS Forty people were included in the study and 34 completed both sessions. Eleven participants had previous muscle strength training experience on the indicated device. There was a high correlation between the test sessions, r = 0.97 for both groups. The analysis of 95% limits of agreement for the mean difference was -4.3/+6.9 kg for the group without and -3.0/+6.4 kg for the group with previous experience, respectively. CONCLUSION One repetition maximum evaluated by the Pull Down device seems to be a reliable and safe method for dosing and evaluating a muscle strength training programme for elderly people. The observed variation of approximately -4/+7 kg cannot be interpreted as an effect of muscle training, but is more likely an effect of learning, fluctuations in daily condition and/or motivation.