Category: Fitness

What Is It?

The Strength Retention Screen (SRS) is a test for adults to check for muscular strength deficiencies.

Why Is It Needed?

As people age, they lose muscle mass and strength. This is known as sarcopenia. It often begins in the 40s but accelerates later in life. The costs of sarcopenia are significant. “The estimated direct healthcare cost attributable to sarcopenia in the United States in 2000 was $18.5 billion ($10.8 billion in men, $7.7 billion in women), which represented about 1.5% of total healthcare expenditures for that year.”¹ Additionally, there is a personal cost in reduced quality of life (reduced mobility, etc.) and increased risk of falls.

While the cause of sarcopenia is not yet known, effective treatment is available primarily in the form of exercise, especially strength training. The SRS can help identify strength loss and suggest a course of action to treat it or delay its onset.

Who Is It For?

The SRS is for male and female adults between the ages of 40 and 70. As noted previously, sarcopenia-related strength loss often begins in the fourth decade of life.

The test is suitable for people of all fitness levels who are healthy enough for physical activity. A standard PAR-Q form ( http://www.csep.ca/cmfiles/publications/parq/par-q.pdf ) is a prerequisite for the test.

What Personal Information Is Kept?

Results of the SRS are stored in a database without any personal identifying information, not even your name. It will include an email address (stored encrypted) but if you don't have one or don't want to provide one, an ersatz address will be provided for login purposes only (the email address will not work).

The information stored includes:

• Email address
• Gender
• Height
• Weight
• Month of birth
• Year of birth
• Country
• Exercise results (e.g., weight, reps)

The email address is your login if you want to access your test results. It can also be used to send you test results and reminders for annual retests, but only if you request them.

How Long Does It Take?

The SRS usually takes about 15 minutes to complete.

What Are The Exercises?

There are three strength exercises, all using weights (usually a barbell) and based on the “Big Three” lifts from powerlifting. Specifically, the tests are:

• Rack pull
• Floor press
• Chair/box “Zercher” squat

To reiterate, no weightlifting experience is required.

Is It Hard?

The exercises have been modified from powerlifting to make them less technical and safer with a reduced range of motion. There are no maximum effort lifts (“one-rep max”). It can be performed by people 70 years of age (and older!). You won't even work up a sweat (unless it's from the warm-up).

What Does It Reveal?

The strength exercises test a variety of muscular fitness, including:

• Posterior chain (hip extension)
• Grip
• Core (bracing)
• Upper body (press)
• Legs (knee extension)
• Upper body (isometric pull)

The test results are adjusted for age and the strength exercise results are also adjusted for weight. These are compared to expected norms for age, gender, and weight. Additionally, results of subsequent tests are compared to previous tests to identify unexpected declines with age. (The SRS should be taken annually for best results.)

Also, the SRS enables the BMI to be checked while addressing one of its major shortcomings: the failure to account for muscle mass. For example, two people may be of the same age, gender, height, and weight and so have the same BMI yet one may be a professional athlete while the other is sedentary. The SRS can identify strength levels to control for this variability.

How Are Results Presented?

Each of the individual tests in the SRS is scored from 0-25 with 15 being a “passing” score (based on normative estimates). Scores are also summed for the three strength tests, and for the four tests overall.

Since each test has a maximum score of 25, there is no competition for getting the “best” score compared to others. People who regularly do strength training can reach maximum scores without too much difficulty. This is not a test for egos; it's for revealing potential problems associated with aging so they can be addressed.

For those who have taken the test before, comparisons to previous scores are provided to show trends (positive or negative) in age-adjusted strength and speed.

Based on test results, the system may provide suggestions regarding potential problem areas. These will only be generalized suggestions; specific, individualized recommendations require a proper assessment. That type of specificity is outside the scope of the SRS.

The SRS system will send a report to the email address provided for the test, if requested. If no email address is provided, a printed report may be provided by the tester. In any case, test results can be accessed online using the email address and a system-generated password.

Who Can Administer the Test?

The SRS has strict protocols in the performance of the exercises and how reps are counted in the strength tests. Thus, it may only be performed by certified SRS persons who have completed the necessary training. SRS certification also provides the tester with access to the SRS website which provides assistance in administering the test (e.g., suggested starting weights for the strength tests) and calculates the test scores. The website database also retains the test data for comparison to subsequent test results.