Effect of Resistance Exercise Orders on Health Parameters in Trained Older Women: A Randomized Crossover Trial

Resistance training improves cardiac function in older women: a randomized controlled trial

This investigation aimed to determine the effects of 24 weeks of resistance training (RT) on cardiac function in older women. Seventy-three physically independent older women were selected for this investigation. Participants were randomized into a training group (TG, n = 38) and a control group (CG, n = 35). The RT program was conducted over 24 weeks and consisted of three sessions a week. Participants performed eight exercises for the whole body in three sets of 8-12 repetitions. Tissue Doppler echocardiography was performed, according to current guidelines, before and after 24 weeks of the intervention. One-repetition maximum (1-RM) tests were used to assess muscular strength. A group vs. time interaction (P < 0.05) was shown for left ventricular end-diastolic volume (TG =  - 8.3% vs. CG =  - 0.6%), left ventricular end-systolic volume (TG =  - 10.6% vs. CG =  + 1.1%), and left atrial volume index (TG =  - 9.1% vs. CG =  + 3.9%). A main time effect (P < 0.05) was found for left ventricular mass index (TG =  + 4.9% vs. CG =  - 0.6%), septal thickness (TG =  + 3.3% vs. CG =  - 1.7%), left ventricular ejection fraction (TG =  + 3.7% vs. CG =  - 0.5%), E'/E septal (TG =  - 4.8% vs. CG =  + 0.5%), deceleration time (TG =  - 4.1% vs. CG =  + 3.9%), E septal (TG =  + 4.6% vs. CG =  - 0.6%), and E lateral (TG =  + 5.2% vs. CG =  - 1.1%). These results suggest that 24 weeks of RT improves cardiac morphological and functional variables in older women.

The Impact of Exercise Training on Physical Activity among Elderly Women in the Community: A Pilot Study

According to a survey conducted by the Taiwanese government, the elderly spend most of their time watching TV for their daily leisure activities, and most do not pant or sweat during exercise. Relevant studies have shown that physical activity has benefits and importance for the physical functions of the elderly. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on the functional fitness of elderly females in the community. The women subjects were from the community of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. In total, 34 females were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The ages of the subjects ranged from 65 to 80 years old, with an average age of 75.13. The experimental group continued their physical activity intervention for 20 weeks. The control group had no training plan. The results of the study showed that after 20 weeks of intervention, participants in the intervention group experienced improvements in back grasping, right-hand grip strength, sitting to standing, right hip flexion, right knee extension, right ankle dorsiflexion, right sitting forward extension balance, and sitting back around objects. Six-minute walking distances also showed a significant difference in all cases. The results demonstrated that the 20-week physical activity program intervention used in this study can assist in improving back grasping, right-hand grip strength, sitting to standing, right-hand sitting posture, forward balance, sitting back around objects, and six-minute walking distance among older women in the community. In summary, we recommend a moderate-intensity physical activity exercise program for older women in the community.

Research hotspots and new trends in the impact of resistance training on aging, bibliometric and visual analysis based on CiteSpace and VOSviewer

Purpose

Resistance training (RT) can intervene in aging, which can effectively improve trainees' life. However, unhealthy living habits such as irregular life, obesity and hyperlipidemia, and chronic diseases lead to a significant decline in the energy level of the population, seriously affecting the health of the population. Our research identifies the research hotspots of RT to intervene in aging from the perspective of bibliometrics, predicts research frontiers and development trends, and provides more perspectives for research on aging populations.

Methods

In this study, we used CiteSpace and VOSviewer visualization software to draw the scientific knowledge map of countries/regions, institutions, authors, co-occurrence keywords, and co-cited references of published articles, and explore the Web of Science core collection database all about the RT intervention aging research status, hotspots, frontiers, and development trends of articles on aging.

Results

Among the 760 articles that meet the inclusion criteria, the number of articles published and the frequency of citations have increased steadily in the past 5 years. Judging from the countries/regions, institutions, scholars, and journals that published articles, the ones with the largest numbers are the USA, Univ Estadual Londrina, Cyrino ES, and Exp Gerontol. The ones with the highest influence are England, Univ Arkansas Med Sci, Frontera WR, and Biochem Biophys Rep Co. The top five co-occurrence keywords of include exercise, strength, resistance training, skeletal muscle, and muscle strength. The research frontier is physical function.

Conclusion

In the field of RT intervention aging research, relevant scholars deserve further in-depth research and exploration. The United States, Brazil, Canada, and other economically developed countries/regions, institutions, and authors have greater influence and productivity. These quantitative research results can provide references for relevant scholars' follow-up research and government departments to formulate and modify health policies or measures.

Association of walking pace and fall-related injury among Chinese older adults: Data from the SAGE survey

OBJECTIVE

Falls are an important public health issue that poses a threat to the health of senior people and reduces their ability to maintain independence, which in turn reduces poor quality of life. Several studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between physical function and fall, it remains unclear whether there is an association between gait speed and fall-related injuries among the aging population, which represent the largest proportion of older adults in China. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the association between gait speed and fall-related injuries among older Chinese adults.

METHODS

Data from the Global Ageing and Adult Health Survey (2007-2010) were analyzed. A stratified multi-stage cluster sampling design was used to collect the survey data. A total of 7558 Chinese adults aged 60 or older were included in this study. A 4-m walking test was used to assess gait speed. Fall-related injuries were self-reported by study participants. The binary logistic regression model was employed to examine the association between gait speed and fall-related injuries while controlling for age, sex, education years, smoking, alcohol consumption, and chronic diseases.

RESULTS

The mean age of the sample of older Chinese adults was 69.70 ± 7.10 years (females accounted for 52.6%). The results showed that a normal gait speed was negatively correlated with fall-related injury (odds ratio = 1.20) when adjusting for all covariates. Moreover, a binary regression analysis showed that a normal gait speed was only negatively correlated with fall-related injury in male participants (odds ratio = 1.32). There were no significant results in rapid gait speed and fall-related injuries.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that a slow gait speed may predict a higher risk of fall-related injuries among older Chinese adults, especially older male adults. Further studies are needed to verify our findings.

Effect of Resistance Exercise Order on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Older Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

We compared the effects of two specific resistance training (RT) exercise orders on cardiovascular risk factors. Forty-four untrained older women (>60 years) were randomly assigned to three groups: control (CON, n = 15), multi-joint to single-joint (MJ-SJ, n = 14), and single-joint to multi-joint (SJ-MJ, n = 15) exercise orders. Training groups performed a whole-body RT program (eight exercises, 3 × 10−15 repetitions for each exercise) over 12 weeks in 3 days/week. Body fat, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c, VLDL-c, glucose, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, C-reactive protein, total radical-trapping antioxidant (TRAP), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), ferrous oxidation-xylenol (FOX), and nitric oxide concentrations (NOx) were determined pre- and post-intervention. Significant interaction group × time (p < 0.05) revealed reducing fat mass and trunk fat and improvements in glucose, LDL-c, IL-10, TNF-α, C-reactive protein, FOX, and AOPP concentrations in both training groups, without differences between them (p > 0.05). The results suggest that 12 weeks of RT, regardless of exercise order, elicit positive adaptations on body fat and metabolic biomarkers similarly in older women.

Tai Chi practice enables prefrontal cortex bilateral activation and gait performance prioritization during dual-task negotiating obstacle in older adults

BACKGROUND

With aging, the cognitive function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) declined, postural control weakened, and fall risk increased. As a mind-body exercise, regular Tai Chi practice could improve postural control and effectively prevent falls; however, underlying brain mechanisms remained unclear, which were shed light on by analyzing the effect of Tai Chi on the PFC in older adults by means of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

METHODS

36 healthy older adults without Tai Chi experience were divided randomly into Tai Chi group and Control group. The experiment was conducted four times per week for 16 weeks; 27 participants remained and completed the experiment. Negotiating obstacle task (NOT) and negotiating obstacle with cognitive task (NOCT) were performed pre- and post-intervention, and Brodmann area 10 (BA10) was detected using fNIRS for hemodynamic response. A three-dimensional motion capture system measured walking speed.

RESULTS

After intervention in the Tai Chi group under NOCT, the HbO2 concentration change value (ΔHbO2) in BA10 was significantly greater (right BA10: p = 0.002, left BA10: p = 0.001), walking speed was significantly faster (p = 0.040), and dual-task cost was significantly lower than pre-intervention (p = 0.047). ΔHbO2 in BA10 under NOCT was negatively correlated with dual-task cost (right BA10: r = -0.443, p = 0.021, left BA10: r = -0.448, p = 0.019). There were strong negative correlations between ΔHbO2 and ΔHbR under NOCT either pre-intervention (left PFC r = -0.841, p < 0.001; right PFC r = -0.795, p < 0.001) or post-intervention (left PFC r = -0.842, p < 0.001; right PFC r = -0.744, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Tai Chi practice might increase the cognitive resources in older adults through the PFC bilateral activation to prioritize gait performance during negotiating obstacles under a dual-task condition.