Multicomponent exercise for physical fitness of community-dwelling elderly women.
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to identify whether a 4-week multicomponent exercise program could improve the level of physical fitness of community-dwelling elderly women. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-two healthy community-dwelling elderly women were randomly allocated to either an experimental or a control group. Experimental subjects performed a multicomponent exercise program that consisted of balance, strengthening, and stretching exercises for 4 weeks, whereas the control subjects did not perform any specific exercise. The subjects' level of physical fitness was assessed prior to and after training using the Senior Fitness Test which assesses muscle strength, flexibility, dynamic balance/agility, aerobic endurance, and body composition. [Results] Subjects in the experimental group showed significant improvements in lower and upper body strength, lower and upper body flexibility, dynamic balance/agility following training, but not in aerobic endurance or body composition. Significant group differences were shown in lower and upper body strength, lower body flexibility, and dynamic balance/agility. [Conclusion] The results suggest that a multicomponent training program that consists of balance, strengthening, and stretching exercises is a relevant intervention for the improvement of the level of physical fitness of community-dwelling elderly women.
Department of Physical Therapy, Korea National University of Transportation, Republic of Korea.
Soonhee
S
Kang
Department of Physical Therapy, Division of Health Science, Baekseok University, Republic of Korea.
Sujin
S
Hwang
School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of South Florida, USA.
Aimee B
AB
Klein
School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of South Florida, USA.
Seok Hun
SH
Kim
Elderly women; Multicomponent exercise; Physical fitness