Effects of Three Resistance Exercise Orders on Muscular Function and Body Composition in Older Women

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of three resistance exercise orders on muscular strength, body composition, and functional fitness in trained older women. Forty-five women (aged ≥60 years), after performing 12 weeks of a pre-conditioning resistance-training program were randomly assigned in one of the following groups that performed the exercises in the following orders: multi-joint to single-joint order (MJ-SJ, n=15), single-joint to multi-joint order (SJ-MJ, n=15), and alternating between upper and lower body order (ALT, n=15). Specific training intervention lasted 12 weeks (3x/week) and was composed of eight exercises performed in three sets of 15/10/5 repetitions, with increasing load through the sets. Muscular strength was estimated by one-repetition maximum tests; body composition was assessed by whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and functional fitness was analyzed with a sequence of four motor tests. All groups improved similarly in muscular strength (Cohen’s effect size: MJ-SJ=0.45; SJ-MJ=0.48; ALT=0.45), skeletal muscle mass (MJ-SJ=0.08; SJ-MJ=0.07; ALT=0.09), and functional test performance (MJ-SJ=0.38; SJ-MJ=0.20; ALT=0.31), but no change was observed for body fat (P>0.05). The results suggest that 12 weeks of resistance training induce positive changes in muscle morphofunctionality, regardless of the exercise order employed in trained older women.

Resistance Circuit Training or Walking Training: Which Program Improves Muscle Strength and Functional Autonomy More in Older Women?

“…In a study that analyzed 45 women aged 60 years or older, it was observed that after a 12-week resistance training intervention, the older women showed an improvement in muscle strength and functional fitness tests [33], corroborating the findings of this study. Moreover, in another study that analyzed older women who participated in a multicomponent training program (upper and lower limbs), it was possible to see, after 56 weeks, improvements in functional autonomy, mobility, and flexibility [34].…”

Intelligent Personalized Exercise Prescription Based on an eHealth Promotion System to Improve Health Outcomes of Middle-Aged and Older Adult Community Dwellers: Pretest–Posttest Study

“…Evidence does consistently suggest that exercise leads to significant improvements in physical fitness, increased flexibility, agility, and strength [32,41,[45][46][47][48]. However, in our present work, physical fitness showed a decline in both exercise prescription groups.…”

The effect of resistance training programs on lean body mass in postmenopausal and elderly women: a meta-analysis of observational studies

“…In regards to the measured outcomes, of the 26 articles included in the study, eighteen articles used DXA scanners [ 33 , 34 , 36 , 38 – 46 , 48 – 50 , 52 , 54 ] to determine whether muscle hypertrophy was evident or not after the intervention, four articles used a BIA [ 35 , 51 , 53 , 55 ], two articles used MRI [ 9 , 31 ] scans and two articles used USI [ 32 , 37 ]. It is important to note that these screening tools were used to measure different regions of the body which had been exposed to the RT.…”

“…Of the different body regions exposed to RT, 23 studies implemented full-body RT [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55], and 3 implemented lower body RT [9, 31,42]. Thus, only the areas of the body which underwent the RT intervention have been examined by the afore mentioned screening tools.…”