2020 Volume 41 Pages 53-59
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of depth in squat exercise on knee extension peak torque, muscle thickness and physical functions. Twenty-one participants were randomly assigned large angle change squat （LAC-squat） groups （age, 69.1±3.3） and small angle change squat （SAC-squat） groups （age, 72.1±4.5） . Participants touch the hip on the 40 cm and 60 cm height chairs during LAC-squat and SAC-squat. They performed 2 sets of 68 times squat per day, 3 days per week, for 12 weeks, and their knee extension peak torque, muscle thickness and physical functions were measured before and after the intervention. As the result, 30 sec sit-to-stand repetition and 1 repetition maximum of leg press were significantly improved after the training in both groups （p < 0.05）．Muscle thickness was significantly increased only in LAC-squat group （p < 0.05）．These findings indicated that the weight-bearing squat training in the older adults was recommended from the perspective of the prevention of sarcopenia and the maintenance of independent activities of daily living. On the other hand, this result suggests that the difference of knee joint angle during squat training may relate with the effects of squat training.
