The effects of strength training on cognitive performance in elderly women

Abstract

Aging is a degenerative process marked by recognized functional, physiological, and metabolic impairments, such as dynapenia and diminished cognitive capacity. Therefore, the search for innovative strategies to prevent/delay these physiological and cognitive disorders is essential to guarantee the independence and life quality of an elderly population. The aim of this work is to verify the effect of a 12-week resistance exercise program on the general physical aptitude and cognitive capacities of elderly and sedentary women. Twenty-nine women (65.87±5.69 years) were divided into two groups. The control group was composed of eight elderly women who met the same inclusion criteria of the study and the strength training group was composed of 29 elderly women who were subjected to a resistance exercise program defined by 12 upper and lower limb exercises combined in 3×10 repetitions with 1-minute interval between repetitions and two resting minutes between exercises (three times/week). Weight loads were fixed between 60% and 75% of the apparent 1 repetition maximum, which was estimated by the test of 10 maximum repetitions. The direct curl was performed for upper body strength evaluation with 2.3 kg dumbbells for 30 seconds, whereas the chair test was used for lower body evaluation (total sit–stand movements in 30 seconds). The cognitive capacities of subjects were evaluated by “The Montreal Cognitive Assessment” questionnaire. After 12 weeks, the elderly group showed significant increases in the average upper body strength (58%), lower body strength (68%), and cognitive capacity (19%). The present study demonstrated that regular resistance exercises could provide significant gains on the upper and lower body strength concomitant to positive improvements on cognitive capacities of elderly women, bringing enhanced life quality.

L-Glutamine Supplementation Improves the Benefits of Combined-Exercise Training on Oral Redox Balance and Inflammatory Status in Elderly Individuals

“…On the other hand, it has been well established that regular (moderate) exercises impose adaptive oxidative challenges to human body that improve the redox balance in several biological compartments, as determining factors for good health and quality of life for elderly population [42,43]. Many health benefits are linked with redox hormesis and regular aerobic and/or resistance exercises, such as cardiovascular fitness [44], increased lean/fat mass ratio [45], lower risks of atherosclerosis and neuroinflammation [9], and improvement of cognitive functions [46]. Based on WHO, any physical activity is better than none at all [1].…”

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“…Byun and Kang (2016) also observed increases in working memory and verbal conceptualization in older women exposed to 12 weeks of resistance training, with frequency of 4 days a week, 50-minute sessions, and moderate to high effort intensities. In addition, positive associations between gains in flexibility and strength and general cognitive ability were also found by Smolarek et al (2016). The authors evaluated elderly women over 65 years of age who were enrolled three times weekly on alternate days in a 12-week resistance training program in which they performed 12 different exercises for upper and lower limbs in three sets of 10 repetitions with loads fixed between 60% and 75% of the estimated value of 1RM.…”

Kräftigung wider das Altern

“…Es ist also nicht verwunderlich, dass einige Studien eine Verbesserung exekutiver Funktionen nicht nur nach Ausdauertraining, sondern auch infolge von Kraftinterventionen beobachten konnten [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse bezüglich kognitiver Outcomes einer Metaanalyse [40] deuten zudem auf eine höhere Wirksamkeit durch kombinierte Interventionsprogramme, die Krafttraining mit einbeziehen (aeroben körperlichen Aktivität + Krafttraining vs. pure aerobe körperliche Aktivität) hin und wurde durch eine neuere Metaanalyse [59] untermauert.…”