Age-Related changes in Upper Body Strength and Lower Limb Power of Professional Italian Firefighters

Purpose Considering that the decrease in strength can be observed with aging and that muscular endurance and strength are essential factors for firefighting effectiveness in critical situations, the purpose of this study were to evaluate the Upper Body Strength and Lower Limb Power of Professional of Italian Firefighters of 229 Italian male firefighters (age 32 ± 8 yrs, height: 177±6 cm, weight: 79 ± 9 kg, BMI: 24.5 ± 2.4 kg/m2) and to compare the results in relation to the age (< 30-year-old group; 31- to 35-year-old group; 36- to 40-year-old group; 41- to 45-year-old group; >45-year-old group). Methods Upper body strength (1RM bench-press), lower limb power (counter movement jump -CMJ-, and sprint ability -20m-) were analysed. Descriptive statistics and an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were applied to anthropometric and physical fitness values to assess significant difference between age groups. When a significant effect was found, Bonferroni's post hoc analysis was used. Results Between age groups, anthropometric values showed an age-effect (p<0.05) for BMI with 34 % of all firefighters in overweight and high prevalence (52%) in >45 compared to the other age group categories. Performances values showed differences for 1RM bench-press (F(4,223) = 6.17; p<0.001), CMJ (F(4,223) = 3.04; p<0.05), 20m (F(4,224) = 8.47; p<0.001) among age groups. A decrease of 12% for Bench-press, 13% for CMJ and 5% for 20 m between <30 and >45-year-old group were found. Conclusions Considering that the ability to produce strength and power movements are very important qualities to firefighters in each age, individual and specific training programs should be planned with functional work activities to improve neuromuscular function at any age.