UMass Amherst Seeking Older Adults for Walking Research

AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers in the department of kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are seeking individuals between the ages of 61 and 85 to participate in a study to measure walking steps during treadmill exercise and during activities you perform in daily life.

Participation in the study involves one to three visits to the campus’s Physical Activity and Health Laboratory in Totman Gym, 30 Eastman Lane, Amherst, for a total time commitment of four to four and a half hours. Participants will be asked to walk on a treadmill at different speeds and to perform activities that they would perform in their daily life such as folding laundry, watching a movie and completing computer work. 

While doing these activities, they will wear several small gadgets that measure physical activity on the waist, wrist, thigh, ankle, foot and chest, plus a portable metabolic system used to measure air breathed in and out. For safety purposes, participants will also wear an electrocardiograph system with chest patches and cables and a blood pressure system on the upper arm to monitor your cardiovascular responses during the test.

Participants will receive a $75 Target Gift Card as appreciation for their time. An additional, optional component of the study includes one week of physical activity monitoring during usual free-living behavior, and a fourth visit to the lab to complete a peak aerobic fitness treadmill protocol. Two $50 Target gift cards will be offered for these optional components of the study.

For more information or to participate, email cadencestudy@gmail.com or call 413/545-1583.