title: Effects of physical training on age-related balance and postural control.
abstract: In this paper, we review the effects of physical activity on balance performance in the elderly. The increase in the incidence of falls with age reflects the disorders of balance-related to aging. We are particularly interested in age-related changes in the balance control system as reflected in different static and dynamic balance tests. We report the results of studies demonstrating the beneficial effects of physical activity on postural balance. By comparing groups of practitioners of different physical activities, it appears that these effects on postural control depend on the type of activity and the time of practice. Thus, we have focused in the present review on "proprioceptive" and "strength" activities. Training programs offering a combination of several activities have demonstrated beneficial effects on the incidence of falls, and we present and compare the effects of these two types of training activities. It emerges that there are differential effects of programs of activities: while all activities improve participants' confidence in their ability, the "proprioceptive" activities rather improve performance in static tasks, while "strength" activities tend to improve performance in dynamic tasks. These effects depend on the targeted population and will have a greater impact on the frailest subjects. The use of new technologies in the form of "exergames" may also be proposed in home-based exercises.
authors.affiliation: EA 3300, Adaptations Physiologiques à l'Exercice et Réadaptation a l'Effort, UFR des Sciences du Sport, Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, 80025 Amiens, France; Structure Fédérative de Recherche en Santé CAP-Santé, Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, 80000 Amiens, France; Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes, 51097 Reims, France. Electronic address: thierry.lelard@u-picardie.fr.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lelard
authors.affiliation: EA 3300, Adaptations Physiologiques à l'Exercice et Réadaptation a l'Effort, UFR des Sciences du Sport, Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, 80025 Amiens, France; Structure Fédérative de Recherche en Santé CAP-Santé, Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, 80000 Amiens, France; Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes, 51097 Reims, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmaidi
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D004856:Postural Balance; D011434:Proprioception; D055070:Resistance Training; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Activité physique; Aging; Balance; Entraînement en force; Entraînement proprioceptif; Physical activity; Programme d’entraînement; Proprioceptive training; Strength-training; Training program; Vieillissement; Équilibre