The latest research on resistance training and aging Article Summary: This article details some of the amazing benefits that can be realized with resistance training as you age. Resistance or weight training involves using different muscle groups to lift weights. This is not limited to lifting huge barbells, but includes such things as raising the legs with ankle weights attached. Resistance training has advantages that differ from aerobic training. For more information, see
An Australian study of postmenopausal women divided them into three groups. One group engaged in strength training, one in fitness, and one no exercise. All were given calcium supplements. Though both the strength and fitness group experienced increases in their bone mineral density, the strength group had the greater increase in bone density at the vulnerable hip joint. Resistance training and the heart A Canadian cardiac rehabilitation study looked at the effects of resistance training among men recovering from heart attacks. All 57 of the participants underwent aerobic exercise rehabilitation, and all had resistance training at low, medium or high intensity. Maximum strength increased in the low intensity resistance group by 10%, 12% in the medium group, and 14% in the high intensity group. Of note, 30 of the men had heart complications during the aerobic exercising (abnormal rhythms, chest pain, blood pressure rises or drops), but only one had cardiac problems during resistance training, demonstrating that not only was it beneficial, but perhaps safer. Further research, however, is needed to confirm this finding. A small study out of the Tufts University Human Nutrition Research Center looked at resistance training in 16 older women with congestive heart failure. These women developed greater muscle strength and increased their walking distance in 6 minutes by 50 meters, but measures of heart function were unchanged. This led the researchers leading the study to conclude that increased exercise capacity in those with heart disease who engage in resistance training had achieved those results because of improved skeletal muscle function, not heart function. Larger studies are needed to further elaborate these results. Resistance training and the frail elderly A similar, though smaller study out of the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston enrolled ten frail, 90+-year-old nursing home residents in an eight-week high-intensity resistance training program. Nine of them finished the program, and those nine experienced an average gain in strength of 174%. Their thigh muscles increased in size by 9%, and their walking speed increased by 48%, leading the researchers to suggest that even the very oldest among us may benefit significantly from resistance training. Research at the Claude B. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center was done to try to understand the biochemical reasons that resistance training might reverse muscle atrophy in frail older adults. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha or TNF-alpha is a substance that circulates in our bodies and has been thought to contribute to muscle atrophy. The researchers found that TNF-alpha is present in higher levels among frail seniors than among younger controls. They also found that frail seniors who were assigned to resistance training saw their levels of TNF-alpha drop and that new muscle proteins rose as TNF-alpha levels dropped. Credit: http://www.infoaging.org |
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