Enhancing Strength Gains With the Power of the Mind

Healthy Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Effect of Combining Maximal Mental Effort With Elastic Band Training on Strength and Neuromuscular Adaptations in Older Females

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06099678
• Other study ID #: 2024-Harper
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 1, 2023
• Est. completion date: November 1, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: December 2023
• Source: Kennesaw State University
• Contact: Garrett Hester, Ph.D.
• Phone: 470-578-4267
• Email: ghester4[@]kennesaw.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine the effect of maximal mental effort combined with elastic band training on strength and neuromuscular function in healthy, older females. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does elastic band training in combination with maximal mental effort increase strength more than elastic band training alone?

• Does elastic band training in combination with maximal mental effort improve neuromuscular function more than elastic band training alone?

Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups:

• Elastic band training

• Elastic band training with maximal mental effort

• Control

Researchers will compare groups to determine differences in changes in strength, neuromuscular function, and body composition.

Description:

Participants in both training groups will perform 6 weeks of moderate intensity, whole-body elastic band training. Participants in the control group will participate in all testing procedures but not perform any training. Participants from both groups will be instructed to maintain their normal physical activity levels and dietary habits.

All training sessions will be home-based and virtually supervised by research personnel. Participants will complete 2 training sessions in the first week and 3 training sessions per week for the remaining 5 weeks. Each training session will last about 45-60 minutes and consist of 7 exercises performed in the same order by each participant, including both multi-joint (chair squat, chest press, leg press, back row) and single-joint (knee extension, knee flexion, elbow flexion) exercises. Participants will perform 12 repetitions for each exercise for the first 3 weeks, then volume will be increased by progressing to 4 sets for the remaining 3 weeks. There will be a 60-second rest interval between sets and a similar tempo will be used between groups.

Both training groups will perform the same training protocol, but participants in the maximal mental effort group will mentally urge their muscles to contract maximally during each repetition. That is, despite using a moderate intensity, participants will imagine the feeling of maximal muscle contraction of the primary muscles during each repetition.

Several measures of strength, neuromuscular function, physical function, and body composition will be measured before and after the training or control period.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 45
• Est. completion date: November 1, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: November 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 65 Years to 79 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Between 65-79 years of age

• Female

• Have not engaged in structured exercise for 3 years

• Are not reliant upon a walking aid

• Be able to rise from a chair unassisted

• BMI between 25-33 kg/m²

• Have access to the internet and access to a smartphone or computer with a camera at home

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any history of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or metabolic diseases

• Musculoskeletal injury within the past 6 months

• Any condition affecting muscle function

• Uncontrolled hypertension

• Score less than 23 on the Mini-mental State Exam

• Upon starting study, missing more than 2 training session

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Elastic Band Training
This training intervention will be 6 weeks of moderate-intensity elastic band training, including whole-body and isolated muscle exercises.
• Elastic Band Training with Maximal Mental Effort
This training intervention will be 6 weeks of moderate-intensity elastic band training, including whole-body and isolated muscle exercises, where participants will perform maximal mental effort by imagining maximal muscle contraction during each exercise.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Kennesaw State University	Kennesaw	Georgia
United States	Kennesaw State University	Kennesaw	Georgia

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Kennesaw State University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Change in exercising heart rate	A descriptor of the exercise physiological intensity for both training protocols	Each exercise session of the 6-week intervention
Other	Change in calorie consumption as measured by kilocalories determined by dietary recall	Amount of calories consumed	Baseline, Week 7
Other	Change in protein consumption as measured by kilocalories determined by dietary recall	Amount of protein consumed	Baseline, Week 7
Other	Change in physical activity as measured by daily step count via Garmin Venu SQ smartwatch	Measure of physical activity level	Baseline, Week 7
Primary	Change in bicep curl strength as measured by load lifted in pounds	Maximum dumbbell load lifted successfully throughout the range of motion of a bicep curl	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in voluntary activation as measured by ratio of superimposed torque to resting twitch torque	Voluntary activation is an estimate of neural drive and is the amplitude of superimposed torque elicited by percutaneous muscle stimulation relative to the resting twitch torque amplitude	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in handgrip strength as measured in kilograms of force	Upper-body strength as measured by a handgrip dynamometer	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in agonist muscle activation as measured by electromyography amplitude	A measure of the capacity at which the muscle is activitated by the nervous system	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change from baseline in isokinetic muscle activation at 6 weeks	Electromyography root mean square during isokinetic contraction divided by root mean square during isometric contraction	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in antagonist co-activation as measured by electromyography amplitude	A measure of the capacity at which the antagonist muscle is activated by the nervous system	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in isometric bicep strength as measured by newton-meters of torque	Isometric strength of a muscle	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in isokinetic bicep strength as measured by newton-meters of torque	Dynamic strength of a muscle contracting at a constant velocity	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in rate of torque development as measured by newton-meters per second	A measure of the capacity to increase muscle torque rapidly as determined by the slope of the torque-time curve	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in walking speed as measured by time taken to walk 6 meters	Measure of lower-body physical function	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in chair rise performance as measured by number of chair rises performed in 30 seconds	Measure of lower-body physical function	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in chair rise power by watts by a linear transducer attached to hip during chair rise test	Product of load and velocity as determined on a linear transducer	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in muscle composition as measured by ultrasound-derived grey-scale analysis	Echo-intensity value derived from grey-scale analysis is indicative of amount of non-contractile tissue in muscle	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in skeletal muscle size as measured by ultrasound-derived cross-sectional	Size of a muscle	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in fat mass as measured by kilograms	Amount of fat tissue a person possesses estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in fat-free mass as measured by kilograms	Amount of non-fat tissue a person possesses estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in body fat percentage as measured by fat tissue relative to fat-free tissue	Relative amount of body fat a person possesses estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in hemoglobin A1c level as measured by blood drop analysis	Blood drop analysis, obtained from fingerstick, measure of amount of blood sugar bound to hemoglobin	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in resting heart rate as measured by beats/min using oscillatory cuff	Measure of cardiovascular fitness	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in resting blood pressure in millimeters of mercury using oscillatory cuff	Measure of cardiovascular fitness	Baseline, Week 7
Secondary	Change in general feeling about knee extension and bicep curl exercise	From a -5 to +5 on the Affective Feeling Scale	Each exercise session of the 6-week intervention
Secondary	Change in grip width on elastic band as measured by distance of hand placements on band	Indication of progression in training intensity	Baseline, 3 weeks, 5 weeks