It's never too late
to work out
Newswise — Publishing in the
Journal of Aging and Health (vol. 18 No.1), University
of South Florida School of Aging Studies professor Ross
Andel and co-researcher Robert Simons, executive
director of the Bonsai Holistic Spa and Wellness Center,
Largo, Florida, found that 64 volunteers, with an
average age of 83.5 years, showed significant increases
in body strength, flexibility, balance and agility after
participating in an exercise program that included
walking and resistance training exercises twice-per-
week over 16 weeks.
“Our findings
demonstrate that exercise can lead to improvements in
functional fitness even among very old, previously
sedentary individuals” said Andel. “It’s never too late
to work out.”
According to Andel,
the volunteers included 45 women and 19 men from an
independent living facility. The participants averaged
83.5 years of age, ranging in age from 66 to 96. All
received pretests and posttests that measured aspects of
their fitness. Volunteers were divided into a walking
group, a resistance training group and a control group
that did not exercise. Trained instructors provided
supervision for the volunteers through warm-up,
stretching and flexibility exercises and their
subsequent work-outs on resistance training machines.
“Physical inactivity
correlates to an accelerated depletion of function and
deficits in muscle strength and neuromuscular activity,
which can in turn lead to decreased functioning and
increases in frailty and falls,” explained Andel. “While
little is known about the benefits of exercise among
those older than 80, they are the fastest growing age
group in the U.S.”
Gerontologists suggest
that preserving strength and agility will keep seniors
healthier longer and enable them to better perform
activities of daily living (ADLS).
“Both the walking and
resistance training groups benefited, even in areas that
were not trained. Our findings suggest that, in advanced
old age, the benefits of exercise may be rather
universal and less exercise-specific than earlier in
life,” concluded Andel. “Growing evidence suggests that
physical activity can off-set age-related functional
decline and preserves independence longer into old age.”