Archie Young obituary

Geriatrician who pioneered the idea of strength training for elderly people

Unlike other exercise researchers in the 1980s who were focusing on heart health, the geriatrician Archie Young, who has died aged 73, was interested in strength and balance. To live independently and avoid falls, it is fundamental to have sufficient balance to stand upright and the muscle strength to get up from the toilet or a low chair, but before Young's discoveries many assumed that deteriorating muscle strength was both inevitable and irreversible in elderly people.

In the early 80s Young was a doctor in a rehabilitation unit in Oxford, where among other things he introduced ultrasound imaging to physiotherapy. In 1985 he became a consultant and then professor and head of geriatric medicine at the Royal Free hospital in London, where he helped set up Queen Mary's, a rehabilitation facility for elderly people. In both Oxford and London he conducted experiments with elderly volunteers, for example measuring their quadriceps (thigh muscle) and studying the effect of strengthening exercises.