Assessment of muscle quality and architecture is important for understanding and quantifying muscle changes associated with aging and a sedentary lifestyle and provides information on the muscle's ability to generate strength, power, or function. The aims of the study were (I) to determine the association between muscle architecture parameters and muscle quality index (MQI) and (II) to determine the association between muscle architecture parameters and mean relative power in the sit-to-stand test (STS). Only muscle thickness (MT) showed a moderate association with MQI (r = 0.545). In contrast, both fascicle length (FL) and penile angle (PA) exhibited "very low" associations, which were not significant with the MQI. When examining the relationship between muscle architecture parameters and mean relative STS power, MT presented a "moderate" association (r = 0.444). However, both LF and PA showed "very low" and "low" associations, respectively, with a mean power relative to STS. In conclusion, these findings reinforce the idea that MT may be a relevant indicator of muscle quality and ability to generate power in the STS test. Specifically, an increase in MT was associated with an improvement in MQI and mean power relative to STS.
KEY WORDS: Muscle power; relative strength; Muscle thickness; Muscle architecture; muscle thickness.