Is power training effective to produce muscle hypertrophy in older adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Power training has been suggested to be effective in improving strength, power, and functional capacity in older adults. However, there is still a lack of systematic investigations reporting its effectiveness for muscle hypertrophy. Thus, this study investigated the effect of power training on muscle hypertrophy and compared its magnitude with traditional moderate-velocity resistance training in older adults. A systematic search was conducted to identify clinical trials investigating the effect of power training on muscle hypertrophy (power training vs. control) and/or comparing the effect of power training versus moderate-velocity resistance training for a meta-analytical approach. Ten studies comparing power training to control conditions and 9 studies comparing power training to moderate-velocity resistance training were selected. Three studies were classified as high quality and 2 were preregistered. The meta-analysis showed that power training was superior for muscle hypertrophy compared with control condition ( = 8 studies; standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.04, 0.58; = 0.029), and resulted in similar hypertrophy compared with moderate-velocity resistance training ( = 7 studies; SMD = 0.07; 95% CI = -0.18, 0.32; = 0.50). No significant heterogeneity was observed ( = 0.46 and 0.54, and = 0% and 0%, respectively). Our data suggest that power training is effective for muscle hypertrophy in older adults, with similar effectiveness as moderate-velocity resistance training. (PROSPERO registration no.: CRD42019128951.) It is known that power training might be superior to moderate-velocity resistance training for function improvements in older adults, but there was no meta-analysis investigating its effect on muscle hypertrophy. Power training is effective to induce muscle hypertrophy in older adults to a similar extent as moderate-velocity resistance training.