Relationship Between Physical Fitness and Ability to Coordinate Exertion of Force with Reference to Sex Difference in Healthy Middle- and Old-Aged People / 体力科学

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical fitness and ability to coordinate exertion of force (ACEF) in 82 healthy middle and old-aged people aged 54 to 78 years (male 41, female 41), and to examine its sex differences. The ACEF test was conducted with the subject fitting the exertion value of grip strength to a changing demand value appearing on the display of a personal computer. The variable estimating ACEF was the total sum of the differences between the demand value and the produced strength value. The physical fitness items measured were grip strength, shoulder arm strength (push and pull), vertical jump, vital capacity, foot balance with eyes open, trunk flexion, trunk rotation, whole body reaction time, finger tapping, and stepping. To clarify the relationship between the ACEF and physical fitness, multiple regression analysis was used after age-controlled partial correlations were computed. No sex difference was found in nervous function based on the exertion of maximal ability, but there was with the ACEF based on the exertion of sub-maximal strength. Also the relationship between the ACEF and age differed in men and women. The tests of nervous function and grip strength had little relation to the ACEF test. Each physical fitness factor and the fundamental physical fitness had low relation to the ACEF. It was inferred that ability measured by the ACEF test differs from that measured by general physical fitness tests based on the exertion of maximal ability. It is necessary to examine the relationship between the ACEF test and a similar test based on the exertion of sub-maximal strength.