Effects of resistance training in elderly women with cognitive decline

Abstract

Introduction: With aging, it is common for some changes to occur in different areas of cognition, such as memory, executive function, language and psychomotor speed. However, regular physical activity has been described as an excellent way to alleviate the degeneration caused by aging within the various physical, psychological and social domains. Objective: To evaluate the effects of resistance training in elderly women with mild cognitive impairment. Methods: Experimental study with 31 sedentary elderly women divided into control (CG; n=15) and resistance training (RTG; n=16) groups who underwent assessment of anthropometric measures, body composition, maximum strength, heart rate and blood pressure and questionnaire application (Mini-Mental State Examination). Results: Cognitive ability increased in RTG (post 26.00 ± 2.13 vs. CG 22.24 ± 3.82 vs. pre 24.06 ± 2.38 RTG). In RTG, there was a reduction in systolic blood pressure (post 107.50 ± 11.97 vs. CG 126.00 ± 9.72 vs. pre 124.13 ± 12.55 mmHg RTG), diastolic blood pressure (post 68.50 ± 8.15 vs. CG 81.73 ± 4.59 vs. pre 74.69 ± 6.87 mmHg RTG) and double product (post 7746 ± 1244 vs. CG 9336 ± 1595 vs. pre 9286 ± 1309 mmHg x bpm RTG), but not in heart rate (post 72.00 ± 7.40 vs. CG 74.00 ± 10.50 vs. pre 74.94 ± 8.42 bpm RTG). Regarding muscle strength, an increase was evident in all exercises. Conclusion: The present study showed that resistance training in elderly women increased muscle strength and reduced hemodynamic variables. But the most important finding was that there was an increase in cognitive capacity.