Physical and psychological effects of outdoor fitness equipment training on middle-aged and older adults: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

This project will investigate the effectiveness of an 8-week outdoor fitness equipment (OFE) programme on health parameters in healthy community-dwelling middle and older adults, corresponding to the present paper to the study protocol, which follows a single-blind randomised controlled trial design. The training intervention will involve participation in an OFE programme implemented over 8 weeks, two sessions/week. Rating of perceived exertion, heart rate, training volume and adherence to the exercise programme will be registered each session. The control group will not receive any structured exercise programme. Blinded examiners will evaluate before and after the training programme muscle strength with both maximum knee extension and elbow flexion isometric tests, handgrip strength test and five time sit-to-stand test; cardiovascular fitness with 400-metre walking test; postural stability with the balance tests of the short physical performance battery (SPPB) battery; dynamic balance with Timed Up and Go (TUG) test; body composition with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; functional performance by gait speed, TUG and SPPB battery; blood pressure; and sagittal spine disposition and pelvic tilt. Information will also be collected about demographic characteristics, health-related quality of life, satisfaction with life and adherence to the Mediterranean diet questionnaires. After that, sarcopenia, osteoporosis and fracture risk will be calculated. The results derived from this research will increase the knowledge of the effectiveness of OFE training for improving the health of healthy community-dwelling middle and older adults.

The Effect of Resistance Training with Outdoor Fitness Equipment on the Body Composition, Physical Fitness, and Physical Health of Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The TG participants engaged in an 8-week training program utilizing OFE, with two weekly sessions lasting one hour per session on non-consecutive days. The CG participants did not perform any training and were asked to maintain their usual lifestyle [19]. Attendance at the training sessions was monitored daily, with an average rate of 92.75%.…”

“…The intervention program was carried out in an OFE circuit, consisting of 11 exercises performed on eight body weight OFE (Bonny rider, Air Walker, Surfboard, Row, Parallel bars, Gemini, Flyer wheels, and Swing) provided by the company Equipamientos para Entorno Urbano S.L. (Murcia, Spain) (Table 1), located in a private area annexed to the laboratory within the facilities of the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM) [19].…”

“…The present study is an 8-week two-armed parallel single-blind randomized controlled trial with blinded examiners, which follows the methodology described in a protocol study already published in a previous research work [19]. The participants were divided equally and randomly between the training group (TG) and the control group (CG).…”

“…Healthcare 2024, 12, x 5 of 17 bars, Gemini, Flyer wheels, and Swing) provided by the company Equipamientos para Entorno Urbano S.L. (Murcia, Spain) (Table 1), located in a private area annexed to the laboratory within the facilities of the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM) [19].…”

“…The training program was designed and concurrently supervised by two graduates in Sports Science with master's degrees in Strength and Conditioning Training, Healthy Aging, and Physical Activity and Health. Each resistance training session was preceded by a standardized warm-up routine, focused on joint mobility, cardiovascular, and body weight exercises, following a previous protocol [19]. The training protocol utilized is detailed in Table 2, which outlines the progression of the training over the 8 weeks of the intervention in terms of its volume and intensity.…”