Background: Physical activity (PA) plays an important role in the process of several chronic diseases. It may be also associated with the incidence of sarcopenia. This study aimed to determine the association of PA from different components including frequency, duration, intensity, and volume with the incidence of sarcopenia in middle-aged and older adults. Methods: This study used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2011 and 2015. A total of 3,760 individuals aged ≥ 40 years were involved in this study. Sarcopenia was diagnosed using muscle mass, strength and physical performance according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. PA information including frequency, duration, intensity, and volume was obtained by a self-reported questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the association between PA and the incidence of sarcopenia at 4-year follow-up. Results: The incidence of sarcopenia was 5.9% during the 4-year follow-up. Compared to sedentary individuals, those taking 1–2 days or more per week, or a minimum of 10 min each time on vigorous-intensity PA (VPA) had a lower incidence of sarcopenia. Adults spending 3 days or more each week, a minimum of 30 min each time, or 150 min or more per week on moderate-intensity PA (MPA) had a lower presence of sarcopenia than sedentary adults. Adults taking 3 days or more per week, at least 30 min each time, or 150 min or more each week on light-intensity PA (LPA) tended to have a lower incidence of sarcopenia than sedentary individuals. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the findings after removing persons with hypertension, dyslipidemia, or diabetes. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the frequency, duration, and volume of VPA or MPA are negatively associated with the presence of sarcopenia. Participation in LPA tends to have a lower incidence of sarcopenia in middle-aged and older adults.

Background: Physical fitness and motor ability are associated with the incidence of locomotive syndrome (LS) in older adults. The relationships between physical fitness and motor ability at a young age to LS risk in later life remain unclear. This study examined the association between physical fitness and motor ability among university students and their risk of LS in middle and old age. Methods: The participants were 231 male alumni aged 48–65 years from the Department of Physical Education of a university in Japan. Physical fitness and motor ability test results during their fourth year at the university were used. Physical fitness tests included the side-step test, vertical jump test, back muscle, grip strength, trunk lift, standing trunk flexion, and step-test. Motor ability was tested using the 50-m and 1500-m run, running long jump, hand-ball throw, and pull-up test. LS risk was assessed using a seven-question standardized self-administered Loco-check questionnaire. Participants were divided into three groups (low, medium, and high) based on physical fitness and motor ability test results at young age, and LS risk was assessed at an older age across the three groups using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: From the 2017 follow-up survey, the median follow-up period was 37 years (interquartile range, 33–41), and LS risk was suspected for 31 (13.4%) participants. Better performance on the side-step test was associated with the reduced risk of LS (hazard ratio 0.32; 95% confidence interval, 0.101–0.983, P = 0.047). Conclusions: Good agility (side-step test) at a young age may reduce the future risk of LS among middle-aged and older men.

This study aims to investigate the prevalence of locomotive syndrome (LS) and to examine the relationship of LS with musculoskeletal symptoms (pain, generalized joint laxity (GJL)) in young Chinese adults. Our study population (n = 157; mean age of 19.8 ± 1.2 years) comprises college student residents at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Three screening methods were used to evaluate LS: 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-25), a two-step test, and a stand-up test. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed by self-report and visual analog scale (VAS), and joint body laxity was evaluated using the GJL test. The prevalence of LS was 21.7% of all participants. Musculoskeletal pain affected 77.8% of the college students with LS and was strongly associated with LS. A total of 55.0% of college students with LS had four or more site joints that were positive for GJL, and higher scores of GJL were associated with a higher prevalence rate of LS. Young Chinese college students have a relatively high prevalence of LS, and musculoskeletal pain and GJL were significantly related to LS. The present results suggest that we need early screening of musculoskeletal symptoms and LS health education in young adults to prevent the mobility limitations of LS in the future.

Background: Among former Olympic-level athletes, engagement in different sport disciplines has been associated with mortality risk in subsequent years. However, limited evidence is available on whether engagement in different sport disciplines at a young age is associated with locomotive syndrome (LS) risk later in life. This study examined the relationship between engagement in different sport disciplines during university years and LS risk in older age among former university athletes. Methods: Participants were 274 middle-aged and 294 older men alumni who graduated from a school of physical education in Japan. LS risk was defined as answering “yes” to any of the Loco-check questions. Data on university sports club membership were collected using questionnaires. University clubs were classified into three groups of cardiovascular intensity (low, moderate, high), following the classification system of sport disciplines by the American College of Cardiology. This classification considers the static and dynamic components of an activity, which correspond to the estimated percent of maximal voluntary contraction reached and maximal oxygen uptake achieved, respectively. University clubs were grouped based on the risk of bodily collision (no, yes) and extent of physical contact (low, moderate, high). Relationships between engagement in different sport disciplines and LS risk were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, and adjusted for age, height, weight, joint disease, habitual exercise, and smoking and drinking status. Results: Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals associated with the low, moderate, and high cardiovascular intensity sports were 1.00 (reference), 0.48 (0.22–1.06, P = 0.070), and 0.44 (0.20–0.97, P = 0.042) in older men, respectively; however, there was no significant association between these parameters among middle-aged men. Engagement in sports associated with physical contact and collision did not affect LS risk in either group. Conclusions: Engagement in sports associated with high cardiovascular intensity during university years may reduce the risk of LS in later life. Encouraging young people to participate in such activities might help reduce LS prevalence among older populations.

To better determine the rate of aging and offer tailored intervention or medical care, it is essential to create a comprehensive indicator that can evaluate physical fitness in middle‐aged and older people. This study aimed to create an indicator of physical fitness age (PFA) that can be used to comprehensively evaluate physical performance and to confirm its validity. There were 5,368 participants in the constructing PFA group and 1,846 participants in the validating PFA group (aged ≥40 for all). We measure five physical fitness items to develop PFA by using principal component analysis. To assess the validity of PFA, we compared chronological age (CA) and PFA in participants with and without possible sarcopenia and used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to assess the discriminating power of the CA and PFA in identifying possible sarcopenia. We established an indicator of PFA which was expressed as PFA = 24.857 − 0.034 × peak expiratory flow − 0.609 × handgrip strength + 9.238 × walking speed + 1.238 × 5‐time chair stand test + 0.742 × CA for men, and PFA = 22.171 − 0.051 × peak expiratory flow − 0.735 × handgrip strength + 7.603 × walking speed + 1.108 × 5‐time chair stand test + 0.753 × CA for women. The validation test demonstrated that PFA was statistically lower than CA in participants without possible sarcopenia, while the PFA was significantly greater than CA in those with possible sarcopenia. ROC analysis showed that PFA had a larger area under the curve than CA. The findings suggest that PFA is a valid predictor of physical performance in Chinese middle‐aged and older adults, which can discriminate persons of the same CA but different levels of physical performance.

This study aimed to examine the combined effect of voluntary exercise and screen time during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions on subsequent grip strength among health and sports science students in Japan. The participants performed grip strength tests and had their weight assessed on 21 October 2020. Furthermore, they completed an online survey between 21 October and 28 October 2020, which included participants’ current age, height, voluntary exercise, and screen time during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (April and May 2020). In total, 380 participants provided complete data (mean age ± standard deviation [SD]: 18.8 ± 0.6 years; 233 males). Our results revealed that 87.6% of male students and 84.4% of female students performed voluntary exercise >1 day/week during the first wave of the pandemic. Moreover, 21.5% of male students and 23.1% of female students had >8 h/day of screen time. A trend toward greater grip strength was observed for both male and female students with high voluntary exercise and low screen time. In particular, grip strength (p < 0.05) was significantly greater in male students with high voluntary exercise and low screen time than those with low voluntary exercise and high screen time. In conclusion, this study revealed that during the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions, a combination of high voluntary exercise and low screen time positively affected the subsequent grip strength of health and sports science students.