Strength Training for the Elderly

Alfredo Valdés 7 min. of reading Strength Leave a comment

Let’s analyze the features of the Strength Training for the elderly. Moreover, we will talk about the importance of training at this age and its benefits

Above all, strength training will increase the strength and muscle mass. In fact, both young and older people will significantly increase their explosive strength (1).

Now, we will list a series of studies that have reported a significant increase in strength and muscle mass in old people

Index

1 Effects of training on strength
2 Benefits of Strength Training for the Elderly
3 Neuronal adaptations to training
4 How to assess the strength on the elderly
5 Conclusions about Strength Training for the Elderly
6 Bibliography
7 Related Entries

Effects of training on strength

Several studies have proven that if we want to increase our strength we will need to reach a certain intensity and duration (2-5)

However, when it comes to assessing the effect of physical exercise in the elderly, they have mainly used aerobic exercise.

Due to this, the number of studies about strength routines on older people has increased. In fact, it is now considered a fundamental part of the workout

Benefits of Strength Training for the Elderly

Some of the benefits are, for instance:

Correcting walking problems;
Preventing falls;
Making daily tasks easier;
Improving joint mobility.

All this ends up improving the health of these people for a longer period of time (1)

Above all, one of the most important points of the Strength Training for the elderly is, without any doubt, fighting against sarcopenia

Neuronal adaptations to training

Several studies suggest that by increasing the strength, weightlifting is connected to an adaptation process of the nervous system. Perhaps, this is due to the activation of the agonist muscles or due to changes in the patterns of antagonist muscle activation (6-8).

In fact, during the first weeks of training, the nervous activation is one of the determining factors in strength development.

However, from the 5-6 week onward, the hypertrophy prevails over the neural factors (6-8, 9)

How to assess the strength on the elderly

Currently, there are a series of different physical test to assess the physical condition

Now, we will explain the tests regarding the muscle strength included in the different sections:

Physical fitness assessment for older adults (10)

This test has been designed to measure six physical capacities and it is made up of eight physical tests. There are two tests that measure the muscle strength:

Hand pressure maximum strength: This test measures the isometric strength of each hand.
Lower body maximum strength: The objective of this test is to measure the strength of the lower body.

Test to measure the strength by using a “hand gripper”

Senior Fitness Test (11)

This part was designed to assess the physical condition of people between the ages of 60 and 94. Its reference values are expressed in percentiles for each one of the tests.

In this case we have another two tests:

Chair stand test: Above all, this one will measure the strength applied by the lower body.
Arm Curl test: Then, this test will assess the strength of the upper body.

AFISAL-INEFC (12)

The AFISAL-INEFC was designed by the project AFISAC (Physical Activity and Health for Adults in Catalunya). In fact, it was developed in the Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya from 1992 to 1995.

In this battery, there are three tests that evaluate the strength:

Pressure maximum strength: First, this test measures the isometric strength of each hand.
Abdominal strength-resistance: On the other hand, this test assesses the strength of the abdomen.
Lower body explosive strength: Finally, this one measures the explosive strength of the lower body, with free synchronization of the upper body.

Conclusions about Strength Training for the Elderly

The current research state that older people can obtain a significantly increase their ability to produce maximum and explosive strength

In fact, this will be mainly due to the structural adaptation of trained muscles. Nevertheless, this will be due specific functional adaptations of the nervous system (1).

In this battery of tests there are tests to assess the strength of both the lower and upper body.

When it comes to assessing the strength, it is important to use regulated reference values. Therefore, this will help professionals to evaluate and compare older adults with the general population in terms of age and sex (13)

All the tests that we have described throughout the article have regulated values to assess the subjects

Bibliography

Studies 1-6

1. Izquierdo, M; y Aguado, X. (1999): Adaptaciones neuromuscuiares durante el entrenamiento de fuerza en hombres de diferentes edades. Apunts: Educación Física y Deportes. 55: 20-26.
2. Frontera, W. R; Meredith, E. N., O’ Reilly. K. P; Knuttgen, H. G. & Evans, W. J. (1988): Strength conditioning in older men; skeletal muscle hypertrophy and improved function. J. Appl. Physiol. 71: 644-650.
3. Hakkinen, K. & Hakkinen, A. (1995): Neuromuscular adaptations during intensive strength training in middle-aged and elderly males and females. Electromyograph. Clin. Neurophysiol. 35: 137-147.
4. Sipila, S. & Suominen, H. (1995): Effects of strength and endurance training on thigh and leg muscle mass and composition in elderly women. J. Appi. Physiol. 7B: 334-340.
5. Hakkinen, K.; Hakkinen, M.; Izquierdo, M.; Jokelainen, K.; Lassila, H.; Malkia, H.; Kraemer, W. J.; Newton, R. U. & Ale, M. (1997): Neuromuscular adaptotions during strength troining in middle aged ond elderly men and women. Acta physiol. Scand.
6. Hakkinen, K. & Komi, P. V. (1985): Effect of explosive type strength training on electromyographic and force production characteristics of leg extensor muscles during concentric and various strech-shortening cycle exercise. Scand. J. Sports Sci. 7 (2): 65-76.

Studies 7-13

7. Hakkinen, K.; Komi, P. V. & Kauhanen (1987): Scientific Evaluation of Specific loading of the knee extensor muscles with Variable Resistance, Isokinetic and Barbell Exercises. David fitness equipment Itd.
8. Komi, P. V. (1986): Training of muscle strength and power: interaction of neuromotoric, Hypertrophic and mechanical factors. Int. Sports Med. (Suppl) 7: 10- 15.
9. Narici, M. V.; Roi, G. S.; Iandoni, I.; Minetti, A E. & Cerretelli, P. (1989): Changes in force,cross-ectional area and neural activationduring strength training and detraining of thehuman quadriceps. Eur. J. Appi. Physiol.59: 310-319.
10. Camiña Fernández, F., Cancela Carral, J.Mª, y Romo Pérez, V. (2001) “La prescripción del ejercicio físico para personas mayores: valores normativos de la condición física”. Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte vol. 1 (2) p. 136-154
11. Rikli, R. y Jones, C. (2001). Senior fitness test manual. Estados Unidos de América. Human Kinetics.
12. Nácher Roig S, Marina M, Valenzuela A, Rodríguez Guisado FA, Gusi Fuentes N, Nogués J (1998) “Valoración de la condición física saludable en adultos: antecedentes y protocolos de la batería AFISAL-INEFC”. Apuntes: Educación física y Deportes: 52:54–77.
13. Baldini M, Bernal Pino, A, Jiménez-Jiménez, R, Garatachea Vallejo, N. (2006) “Valoración de la condición física funcional en ancianos” Revista Digital – Buenos Aires – Año 11 – N° 103.