Effects of aerobic and strength-based training on metabolic health indicators in older adults

To investigate the training effect of sixteen weeks of moderate intensity, progressive aerobic and strength-based training on metabolic health of older women and men.Sixty three sedentary individuals (mean (SD) age 76 (8) years) were randomly assigned to control (n = 31) or exercising (n = 32) groups. The training group was separated to aerobic (n = 18) or strength-based (n = 14). Training took place three times a week. Subjects agreed not to change their diet or lifestyle over the experimental period.Exercising group attained after treatment significant differences on body weight, waist circumference, body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol relationship, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, and 6-minute walk distance. The control group only had significant differences on waist circumference.The training programs produced significant benefits on metabolic health indicators of sedentary older women and men.Age is associated with increases in body weight, body fat, abdominal fat [1,2], and deterioration of the lipid profile [3,4]. Time spent engaging in sedentary activities also increases with age [5,6] and is associated with obesity, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease [7,8]. Conversely, regular involvement in moderate to vigorous bouts of physically active is documented as beneficial to cardiovascular health [9]. Accordingly, the weakening of the cardiovascular system associated with aging could be countered by increasing levels of physical activity and functional fitness [10,11].Aerobic-based training has been proposed as an effective mechanism for improving cardiovascular protection, with training resulting in reductions of 2% on total cholesterol (TC), 2% on low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and 9% on triglycerides (TG), and increases of 3% on high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in men 18 years of age and older [12]. Research has als