Endocrinol Nutr. 2013;60(8):433---438 ENDOCRINOLOGÍA Y NUTRICIÓN www.elsevier.es/endo ORIGINAL ARTICLE Association of muscle strength with early markers of cardiovascular risk in sedentary adults , Héctor Reynaldo Triana-Reina a,b , Robinson Ramírez-Vélez c,* a Departamento de Educación Física y Deporte, Universidad del Valle, Meléndez, Cali, Colombia b Programa de Maestría en Motricidad y Desarrollo Humano, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia c Grupo de investigación en ciencias aplicadas al ejercicio físico, el deporte y la salud (GICAEDS), Facultad de Cultura Física, Deporte y Recreación, Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia Received 12 November 2012; accepted 19 January 2013 Available online 15 November 2013 KEYWORDS Muscle strength; Sedentary lifestyle; Cardiovascular risk; Adults Abstract Objective: To assess the association between muscle strength and early cardiovascular risk (CVR) markers in sedentary adults. Materials and methods: A total of 176 sedentary subjects aged 18---30 years were enrolled. Body mass index and fat percentage were calculated, and waist circumference, grip strength by dynamometry, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and maximal oxygen uptake by VO 2max were measured as CVR markers. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess associations between muscle strength and CVR markers. Results: Inverse correlations were found between muscle strength and adiposity (r = -.317; P = .001), waist circumference (r = -.309; P = .001), systolic blood pressure (r = -.401; P = .001), and mean arterial pressure (r = -.256; P = .001). Subjects with lower levels of muscle strength had a 5.79-fold (95% CI 1.57---9.34; P = .008) risk of having higher adiposity levels (≥25%) and a 9.67-fold (95% CI=3.86---19.22; P < .001) risk of having lower physical capacity values for VO 2max (≤31.5 mL/kg/min -1 ). Conclusions: In sedentary adults, muscle strength is associated to early manifestations of CVR. It is suggested that muscle strength testing is added to routine measurement of VO 2max and traditional risk factors for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular risk. © 2012 SEEN. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.  Please cite this article as: Triana-Reina HR, Ramírez-Vélez R. Asociación de la fuerza muscular con marcadores tempranos de riesgo cardiovascular en adultos sedentarios. Endocrinol Nutr. 2013;60:433---438  This article is part of the Master Thesis of HRTR by Antioquia University. ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: robin640@hotmail.com, robinsonramirez@usantotomas.edu.co (R. Ramírez-Vélez). 2173-5093/$ – see front matter © 2012 SEEN. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.