09/08/2024
Getting older doesn't necessarily mean getting "OLD." Take a look at this recent research on strength gains in older adults who choose to do resistance exercises (weight lifting).
MUSCLE MASS AND STRENGTH GAINS FOLLOWING RESISTANCE EXERCISE TRAINING IN OLDER ADULTS 65–75 YEARS AND OLDER ADULTS ABOVE 85 YEARS
Marzuca-Nassr GN, Alegría-Molina A, SanMartín-Calísto Y, et al. Muscle mass and strength gains following resistance exercise training in older adults 65–75 years and older adults above 85 years. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Published online 2023:1-9.
At Barbell Rehab, a main goal is to reduce barriers to get more folks involved in strength training and aerobic training to help meet the WHO physical activity guidelines. Meeting these guidelines is one of the best ways to mitigate lifestyle induced chronic disease. Additionally, improved fitness levels appear to help us “age gracefully” as we get older. As we age, we see an
overall decline in function, although beginning with higher levels of fitness does seem to help flatten the curve compared to lesser fit counterparts (similarly to seeing folks with greater bone mineral density early on in life don’t lose it as quickly later in life as folks who started with less). This should serve as a great motivator to maximize fitness as soon as possible. But, similar to smoking, a lot of folks have a bias to assuming it’s “too late” at some point (PSA: smoking research suggests there are always benefits to stopping at any age). With exercise, there have been mixed findings regarding older adults’ adaptations to strength training after the age of 85+. In this study, the authors set out to compare the impact of resistance exercise training (RET) on muscle mass and function in healthy older adults 65–75 years versus older adults above 85 years.
To do this, the authors took 29 healthy, community dwelling older adults and split them into two groups (OLDER 65-75 n=17 and OLDER 85+ n=12). Participants in each group went through a progressive 12-week resistance training program 3x/week. Each training session began with a 5-minute warm up on a bike and general arm movements followed by one warm-up and four working sets (10 repetitions/set) of leg press and leg extension machine and then two sets of chest press, lat pull downs and horizontal row machines, followed by a five-minute cooldown with global stretching exercises. The authors increased the workload from 60-80% 1RM during the first 6 weeks and then reassessed 1RM over the last 6 weeks to adjust workloads back to 60-80% 1RM accordingly.
Testing included quadriceps and lumbar spine vertebra 3 muscle cross-sectional area (CSA via computed tomography scan), whole-body lean mass (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan), strength (one-repetition maximum test), and physical performance (timed up and go and short physical performance battery) which was performed at baseline, 6 week point of training and 12 week point of training. Twelve week follow up testing showed a 10% ± 4% and 11% ± 5% increase in quadriceps cross-sectional area, a 2% ± 3% and 2% ± 3% increase in whole-body lean mass, and a 38% ± 20% and 46% ± 14% increase in one-repetition maximum leg extension strength in the OLDER 65–75 and OLDER 85+ groups with no differences in RET responses between groups. The authors also saw improvements in physical performance on the short physical performance battery and timed up and go with no differences between groups.
This is pretty incredible when you consider both groups, but the 85+ group in particular, were able to increase their 1RM leg extension strength 46% (with similar improvements for chest press, lat pull down, horizontal row and grip strength) and quad CSA 11% on average in just 12 weeks! Both groups also showed similar improvements in IL-10 inflammatory concentrations at the end of the program. The authors state, “These findings clearly show that such an advanced age per se does not limit the adaptive response to resistance exercise training” and attribute the larger effects in this trial compared to others due to a higher intensity, volume and frequency in this training program. They push back on traditional narratives by stating, “At a more advanced age, people are generally recommended to partake in low-intensity physical activities (such as easy walking, swimming, or dancing). Without detracting from the benefits of these exercise modalities, for example, cardiovascular health and overall well-being, when the aim is to increase skeletal muscle mass and strength, resistance exercise training with
moderate to high workload intensity (60%–80% 1RM) should be pursued.” So there we have it, evidence that the adaptive response to resistance training is still persevered, even in older clients/patients 85+ (who are cleared for exercise, see exclusion criteria for specifics), which should motivate us to encourage and facilitate progressive overload in the aging population to optimize fitness and assist in graceful aging.
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