Good maintenance of physical benefits in a 12-month exercise and nutritional intervention by voluntary, home-based exercise: a 6-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

We assessed the maintenance of physical benefits in a 12-month exercise and nutritional intervention in postmenopausal women (55-75 years of age) after 6-month postintervention follow-up by voluntary, home-based exercise, and examined whether physical factors responded differently to high or low exercise frequency during the 6-month postintervention period. Forty-five women completed the 12-month intervention program, followed by 6-month cessation of intervention, and were compared with 19 matched controls. Twenty-one of the former exercisers reported that they continued exercise training at least 30 min at least 3 days/week (high-frequency exerciser, HFE), while the remaining 24 former exercisers reported that they had done exercise training at least 30 min twice per week or less during the postintervention follow-up (low-frequency exerciser, LFE). The following items were measured at baseline, 12, and 18 months: bone strength, CS-30 test, 10-m obstacle walk, whole-body reaction time, one-leg stance, and grip strength. After 6-month postintervention follow-up, the beneficial effect on bone was not fully maintained. These benefits in physical performance obtained in the 12-month intervention program, except one-leg stance, were fully maintained for 6 months by voluntary, home-based exercise. The gained benefit in one-leg stance was not fully maintained; LFE showed a significant decrease over the 6-month postintervention follow-up period, suggesting that continued exercise training of at least 30 min at least 3 days/week is required to maintain the balance benefit. These findings suggest that a continued exercise program of voluntary, home-based exercise may be effective to maintain the physical benefits of exercise intervention that may lower fracture risk in later life.

Evaluation of whole body reaction time and one leg with eye closed balance in elderly Japanese

“…They showed that the whole body reaction time significantly decreased from 0.48 ± 0.07 sec to 0.45 ± 0.07 sec (6.4%) after intervention [11]. In addition, they also explored the effect of 12-month exercise and nutritional intervention by voluntary, homebased exercise [13].…”