Even Modest Exercise Boosts Seniors' Physical Abilities  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Simple exercises conducted on resistance training machines lead to a variety of favorable effects on muscle strength and performance in the elderly, Australian researchers report.

Moreover, they say, even relatively low-level workouts lead to significant improvement.

As investigator Dr. Dennis R. Taaffe told Reuters Health, "only a modest amount of resistance exercise, performed on a regular basis, is required to enhance muscle strength and physical performance in older adults, which may assist in the prevention of disability and thereby prolong independence."

Taaffe, at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, and Daniel A. Galvao of Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, looked into whether a single-set or three-set exercise regimen improved physical function in 28 women and men between 65 and 78 years of age.

As described in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, the subjects were randomly assigned to training involving either one or three sets of seven high-intensity resistance exercises. Both programs targeted muscle groups of the upper and lower body. Exercises were conducted twice a week for 20 weeks.

At the end of the study, both groups showed a significant increase in isotonic muscle strength. There were larger improvements in the three-set group, with a significantly greater increase in muscle strength and endurance, but both groups demonstrated considerable benefit.

This is important, concluded Taaffe, because "shorter exercise protocols would be beneficial in community-based programs, permitting a larger number of people to train with the available equipment."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatric Society, December 2005.