Date of Graduation

5-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science Education

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Health, Human Performance and Recreation

Advisor/Mentor

Gray, Michelle R.

Committee Member/Reader

Fort, Inza L.

Committee Member/Second Reader

Hunt, Sharon

Abstract

Power is a strong indicator of physical fitness and functional status of older adults. The Tendo Weightlifting Analyzer is a safe, cost-effective method to measure power. The goal was to validate the Tendo as a measure of muscular power during a chair stand task. It was hypothesized that the Tendo would be a valid measure. This study was a cross-sectional, correlational study with the subjects serving as their own control. All testing took place in the Human Performance Lab at the University of Arkansas. A total of 59 college-aged students from 18 to 30 years of age volunteered. Subjects were found and selected through various classes and verbal advertising around campus. The final pool of subjects included 37 females and 22 males averaging 21 years of age, 71.44 + 14.60 kg in mass and 169.49 + 8.75 cm in height. Interventions: Each subject was instructed to stand from a chair as quickly and as controlled as possible. While a motion analysis camera recorded the movement of the reflective markers on the right acromion process, greater trochanter, lateral epicondyle, lateral malleolus, calcaneus, and fifth metatarsal, the Tendo was connected to a belt on the subjects’ waists and measured the velocity and power exhibited during the stand. Each subject completed this task five times with a one minute break between each stand. Researchers tracked the time and displacement of the markers to calculate the average power of the stand. The average of the five stands was taken for both the Tendo and the motion analysis. The resulting power collected from the computer was then compared to the power output from the Tendo. These two measures were then analyzed through a Pearson correlation and a t-test was performed to determine significance between the two methods. Average power given by the Tendo was 449.76 + 115.03 watts. The motion analysis gave an average power of 334.25 + 96.70 watts (p < .001). Significance was set at p < .05. A positive correlation of r = .72 between the outputs of the two devices was also reported. The significant difference between the power outputs from the Tendo and the motion analysis report indicated that the Tendo is not a valid measure for assessing muscular power during a chair stand. Future studies should focus on establishing reliability and validity for the Tendo across all generations and for power during other tasks.

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