Recruiting

External Focus vs. Internal Focus

Sponsor:

Creighton University

Code:

NCT06853275

Conditions

Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia in Elderly

Age-associated Muscle Loss

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 60 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Experimental: External Focus

Other: Internal Focus

Study Details

Brief summary:

The overall objective for this clinical trial is to provide evidence for internal and external cueing for physical therapists and other rehabilitation clinicians to optimize resistance training within rehabilitation for older adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • What is the impact of external focus (providing velocity of movement for each repetition) compared to internal focus (i.e., no cues, control group) on physical percent velocity loss and neuromuscular activation in older adults with sarcopenia?
  • Does internal and external focus influence motivation and perceptual workload following resistance training in older adults with sarcopenia?

Researchers will compare external focus to internal focus to see if external focus impacts percent velocity loss, motivation, and perceived workload.

Participants will:

  • Visit the lab once per week for 3 weeks
  • Perform exercise testing using a leg press
  • Answer questionnaires regarding perceived workload and motivation before and after exercise

Conditions

Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia in Elderly

Age-associated Muscle Loss

Study ID

NCT06853275

Start date

Aug 1, 2025

Status verified date

Apr, 2025

Completion date

Dec 31, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 60 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Community-dwelling older adults 60-95 years of age
  • Physically independent
  • Free of severe mental impairment
  • Score 4 or greater on the SARC-F sarcopenia questionnaire

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participated in a structured resistance training program in the last 12 months
  • Had a lower extremity injury or surgical intervention within the past 6 months
  • Have neuromuscular (i.e., Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis), circulatory, or edema pathology

Study Design

Enrollment

60 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: External Focus

other: Internal Focus

Interventions

Experimental: External Focus

Participants will perform a short, standardized warm-up (1 set of 10 repetitions of 20% of the participant's estimated 1-repetition maximum). Following the warm-up, participants will perform 30 repetitions using 50% of their estimated 1-repetition maximum on a leg press machine. Participants will receive visual feedback from a linear position transducer for each repetition, indicating the speed of the last repetition/movement.

Other: Internal Focus

Arm Description: Participants will perform a short, standardized warm-up (1 set of 10 repetitions of 20% of the participant's estimated 1RM). Following the warm-up, participants will perform 30 repetitions using 50% of their estimated 1-repetition maximum on a leg press machine. Participants will NOT receive visual feedback for each repetition. This is the control condition.

Primary outcome measure

  • Percent Velocity Loss [ Time Frame: Week 1 and Week 2 Timepoints ]
  • Muscle Activation [ Time Frame: Baseline, Week 1, and Week 2 Timepoints ]
  • Motivation [ Time Frame: Week 1 and Week 2 Timepoints ]
  • Perceived Workload [ Time Frame: Week 1 and Week 2 Timepoints ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Rashelle Hoffman, PT, DPT, PhD

402-280-5691rashellehoffman@creighton.edu

Locations

Creighton University

Recruiting

Omaha, Nebraska, United States, 68178

Contacts

Shannon Walsh

402-280-2322shannonwalsh@creighton.edu

Principal Investigator:

Rashelle Hoffman

More Information

Sponsor

Creighton University

Last update posted

Mar 18, 2026

Last verified

Apr, 2025

Keywords

  • Geriatrics
  • Neuromuscular
  • Rehabilitation
  • Sarcopenia
  • Velocity-based training

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Creighton University on 2026-03-18.