Muscular strength and physical function in elderly adults 6-18 months after a 12-week resistance exercise program.

Abstract

Benefits of resistance exercise in elderly people are well documented; however, sustaining these benefits can be difficult and adherence is often poor. Muscular strength and physical function usually decline after a supervised resistance exercise program (REP). We investigated these changes in older adults during an observational follow-up and whether leisure time physical activity (LTPA) or unsupervised resistance exercise (RE) limit these changes.

Subjects (N=236, 73.7±5.7 years, 58.2% female) had participated in a supervised 12-week REP. Quadriceps strength and timed-up-and-go performance (TUG) at follow-up were compared to values before and after REP. Multivariate statistics were used to predict changes in strength or function.

Two hundred and eleven (90.3%) participants completed REP and 149 (63.1%) completed follow-up (11.4±2.9 months). Quadriceps strength at follow-up decreased significantly compared to after REP (-27N), but was higher than before REP (+30N). TUG did not decrease during follow-up and was better than before REP (-0.9 seconds). LTPA (+38.0N, p<0.001) and RE (+31.6N, p=0.006) predicted strength at follow-up, although they did not completely prevent loss of strength during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS QUADRICEPS STRENGTH DECLINES AFTER A 12-WEEK RESISTANCE EXERCISE PROGRAM IN OLDER ADULTS NEITHER LTPA NOR RE COMPLETELY PREVENTS LOSS OF QUADRICEPS STRENGTH DURING FOLLOW-UP, ALTHOUGH THEY LIMITED THE LOSS TUG DID NOT CHANGE DURING FOLLOW-UP AND WAS BETTER AT FOLLOW-UP THAN BEFORE THE START OF THE RESISTANCE EXERCISE PROGRAM: