Age and Ageing Vol. 34 No. 2 © British Geriatrics Society 2005; all rights reserved
Research Paper |
Muscle function and functional ability improves more in community-dwelling older women with a mixed-strength training programme
1 UO Neuroriabilitazione II, Fondazione S Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy
2 Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Segrate, Milano, Italy
3 Equipe INSERM/ERIT Motricité–Plasticité, UFR STAPS, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
4 Centro Medicina dello Sport, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy
5 Istituto Tecnologie Biomediche Avanzate, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milano-Segrate, Italy
Address correspondence to: P. Capodaglio, UO Neuroriabilitazione II, Fondazione S Maugeri IRCCS, via Boezio 26, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Email: pcapodaglio{at}fsm.it
Abstract
Background: supervised training can reach a limited number of elderly people.
Objective: to determine the impact of a 1-year mixed-strength training programme on muscle function (MF), functional ability (FA) and physical activity (PA).
Setting: twice-a-week hospital-based exercise classes and a once-a-week home session.
Participants: twenty-eight healthy community-dwelling men and women on the training programme and 20 controls aged over 75 years.
Methods: training with two multi-gym machines for the lower limbs at 60% of the repetition maximum (1RM). At-home subjects used elastic bands.
Measurements: maximum isometric strength of knee extensors (KE), ankle plantar flexors (PF), leg extensor power (LEP), functional reach (FR), chair rise 1 (CR1) and 10 times (CR10), bed rise (BR), six-minute walking test (6MWT), stair climbing (SC), get-up-and-go (GU&G), one-leg standing (1LS). PA was assessed with the Paqap© questionnaire.
Results: women were significantly weaker than men at baseline: –47% for KE and –59% for PF. Training induced significant gains in MF and FA in the training females; males improved significantly only in FA. PA levels increased non-significantly (2%) in all of the training group.
Conclusions: long-term mixed-strength programmes can improve MF and FA in elderly females, and FA in elderly males.
Keywords: mixed-strength training, functional ability, elderly
Received May 10, 2004; Revision received November 10, 2004. accepted in revised form November 10, 2004.
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