stand the risk of disease (e.g., type 2 diabetes) and/or mortality, at least in part, of an individual and as such provide useful information to health professionals. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between long sleep duration and functional capacities in a well-characterized population of sedentary postmenopausal women, a group at increased risk for developing functional capacities. Based on the study of Patel et al., 6 which showed negative health outcomes in long sleepers, we hypothesized that long (> 9 h) sleep duration would be associated with lower functional capacities. Study Objective:The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between long sleep duration and functional capacities. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at the Department of Kinanthropology at the University of Quebec at Montreal. Forty eight non-frail postmenopausal women aged between 49 to 75 years were recruited using advertisements in local papers. Body weight, body mass index, fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, number of steps per day, SF-36 total (healthy questionnaire), resting metabolic rate, total energy intake, sleep duration, knee extensor strength (dynamometer), chair stand test and balance opened eyes test were measured.

Tai chi training improved body composition, muscle strength, functional capacities, and general health perception in postmenopausal women, and this last improvement was more pronounced in type I dynapenic individuals. Therefore, tai chi may be considered as an alternative physical training method in preventing the occurrence of disabilities and frailty in postmenopausal women with type I dynapenia.

Type I dynapenic women have significantly poorer cardiorespiratory functions that do nondynapenic women even if they presented the same skeletal muscle mass index. Thus, based on our results, dynapenia could potentially be used as a marker of cardiorespiratory functions. The clinical method developed to identify dynapenic women could be used by health professionals.