Hutchison, Cortland; Preece, J. Caleb; Seibold, Tanner; Feland, J. Brent (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Feland, Brent (Life Sciences, Exercise Science)
BACKGROUND: Muscle morphology changes with age and the fibrous/fatty infiltration should affect the overall stiffness of aging muscle. However, little info intrinsic stiffness as measured by SWE is available on aging muscle and the effect of gender using this measurement is not clear.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine how gender affects cross sectional area (CSA) and SWE of both the medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscle of the dominant leg in active older athletes participating in the HuntsmanWorld Senior Games.
METHODS: Data was collected from 116 volunteers (participants in the Huntsman World Senior Games) in St. George, Utah, 2019. Subjects (62 males: mean age = 68.9 ± 7.8 yrs, Ht = 177.4 ± 8.1 cm, Wt= 85.4±20 kg; 54 females: mean age = 66.9 ± 8.5 yrs, Ht =164.4 ± 7.2 cm, Wt= 69.8±18 kg) signed an approved consent form and then lay prone on a treatment table for ultrasonic measurement of both CSA and SWE of both heads of the gastrocnemius.
ANALYSIS: All data were analyzed a generalized linear model analysis using SPSS ver25 comparing CSA and SWE of both medial and lateral gastrocnemius heads by gender with age, height and weight as covariates.
RESULTS & CONCLUSION: We hypothesized that gender would affect both CSA and SWE with males exhibiting increases in both CSA and SWE values. We found a significant difference in CSA of both the medial and lateral gastroc (p=.000 for both) between genders, but no significant difference in lateral gastroc SWE (p=.337) or medial gastroc SWE (p=.320). Both age (p=.004) and weight (p=.000) were also found to significantly affect CSA and SWE between genders. The larger CSA values for men in this study may be more of a function of overall body size and weight since both populations are active athletes.