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Association between muscle mass quantity and quality and muscle strength in adults with obesity

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Abstract

Background

This cross-sectional study aimed to verify the association between muscle quantity and quality and muscle strength in obese adults.

Methods

Lean mass (LM) and intracellular water (ICW) were obtained using bioelectrical impedance. Muscle quantity was expressed in kg for LM, while muscle quality was determined by ICW and the ratio of ICW/LM. Maximum strength was measured by the one-repetition maximum test (1RM) in bench press and leg press exercises at 45º. The score for total strength (Z-score) was given by the average of scores for each test. The statistical analysis included Spearman's correlation, whose results were expressed as correlation coefficients (r); crude and adjusted linear regression, expressed as adjusted coefficients of determination (R2); Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC); and Akaike Information Criteria (AIC).

Results

Sixty-nine adults of both sexes with a mean age of 34 (± 7.1) years participated in the study. A strong positive correlation was found between the amount of LM and muscle strength (r = 0.83; p < 0.001). There was also a positive correlation between ICW and the ratio of ICW/LM, indicators of muscle quality, and muscle strength, resulting in strong (r = 0.83; p < 0.001) and moderate (r = 0.40; p < 0.001) magnitudes, respectively. Additionally, ICW had better predictive power for muscle strength (R2 adjusted = 0.98; AIC: 161.8483; BIC: 175.253).

Conclusion

Muscle quantity and quality presented good predictive capacity for muscle strength. Assessing muscle quality can provide further clarification on how the muscle is able to produce strength in adults with obesity.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [ARS], upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Santa Catarina, R. Dep. Antônio Edu Vieira – Pantanal, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil

    Anne Ribeiro Streb, Jucemar Benedet, Fernanda Rosa, Guilherme Tadeu de Barcelos, Aline Mendes Gerage & Giovani Firpo Del Duca

Authors
  1. Anne Ribeiro Streb
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  2. Jucemar Benedet
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  3. Fernanda Rosa
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  4. Guilherme Tadeu de Barcelos
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  5. Aline Mendes Gerage
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  6. Giovani Firpo Del Duca
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Contributions

ARS was responsible for designing and writing the protocol, conducting the research, analyzing data, interpreting results, and creating tables and writing the manuscript. JB was responsible for designing and writing the protocol, conducting the research, interpreting results, and creating tables and writing the manuscript. FR and GTB interpreted results, creating tables and writing the manuscript. AMG and GFDD designing and writing the protocol and provided feedback on the report.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne Ribeiro Streb.

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Conflict of interest

We declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest associated with this publication.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Committee for Ethics in Research on Human Beings of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (protocol 2448,674). All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards set out in the Declaration of Helsinki of 1964 and its subsequent amendments. In addition, all subjects gave their informed consent before being included in the study, with anonymity being guaranteed at all stages.

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Streb, A.R., Benedet, J., Rosa, F. et al. Association between muscle mass quantity and quality and muscle strength in adults with obesity. Sport Sci Health 19, 211–217 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-022-01021-z

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