Resistance Training Strengthens Seniors

Older adults can maintain muscle strength by doing resistance training just once a week.

That's the claim of a Ball State University study in the current issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences.

The study also found older adults may be more likely to use resistance training if they don't have to spend too much time in a gym.

Researchers examined a group of 10 men, average age 70, who had spent three months building up muscle strength by training with resistance equipment three times a week. The strength increases experienced by the men over that time ranged from 20 percent to 90 percent.

Over the next six months, half the men continued to do resistance training once a week. They maintained their muscle size and strength. The other five men who returned to their previous routines of no regular physical exercise lost muscle strength and mass, the study found.

This loss of muscle mass and strength, called sarcopenia, is commonly associated with aging. Sarcopenia-related problems such as falls can lead to injury and loss of independence for older adults and result in millions of dollars in health-care costs.

"Engaging in a once a week resistance training program seems to be effective to prevent the advancement of sarcopenia. Older adults could engage in a low-volume, high-intensity program and still maintain independence and reduce their chances for falls and injuries," Scott Trappe, director of Ball State's Human Performance Laboratory, says in a news release.

More information

Here's where you can learn more about exercise for seniors.

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