title: Muscle function and functional ability improves more in community-dwelling older women with a mixed-strength training programme.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Supervised training can reach a limited number of elderly people.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the impact of a 1-year mixed-strength training programme on muscle function (MF), functional ability (FA) and physical activity (PA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twice-a-week hospital-based exercise classes and a once-a-week home session.
  
  
  METHODS
  twenty-eight healthy community-dwelling men and women on the training programme and 20 controls aged over 75 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Training with two multi-gym machines for the lower limbs at 60% of the repetition maximum (1RM). At-home subjects used elastic bands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Maximum isometric strength of knee extensors (KE), ankle plantar flexors (PF), leg extensor power (LEP), functional reach (FR), chair rise 1 (CR1) and 10 times (CR10), bed rise (BR), six-minute walking test (6MWT), stair climbing (SC), get-up-and-go (GU&G), one-leg standing (1LS). PA was assessed with the Paqap questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women were significantly weaker than men at baseline: -47% for KE and -59% for PF. Training induced significant gains in MF and FA in the training females; males improved significantly only in FA. PA levels increased non-significantly (2%) in all of the training group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long-term mixed-strength programmes can improve MF and FA in elderly females, and FA in elderly males.
authors.affiliation: UO Neuroriabilitazione II, Fondazione S Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy. pcapodaglio@fsm.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Capodaglio
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Capodaglio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scaglioni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saibene
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome