Twelve Weeks of High-Intense Interval Training Enhance the Neuromuscular and Cardiorespiratory Performance of Elderly

Abstract

Background: Exercise is an effective non-pharmacological intervention for the enhancement of neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory health. In particular, High-Intense Intermittent Training (HIIT) has been implicated in health management; however, in specific populations such as the elderly, is needed more investigations. Objective: The aim is to determine the impact of HIIT in the neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory fitness of the elderly. Methods: Thirty-two elderly volunteers, 71.0 ± 2.1 years, were randomly divided into two groups, control (CG) (n = 16), that did not participate in any interventions, and experimental (EG) (n = 16) that participated in a 12-week exercise program based on HIIT 3 times a week, and 40 minutes by a meeting. Both groups were subjected before and after the intervention period to neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory testing, and monthly were clinically evaluated by a Physician. Results: No orthopaedic events were reported to both groups, and the CG showed no enhancement to all variables. The EG, muscular endurance of the upper limbs was enhanced (p <0.0001), as was muscular endurance of the lower limbs (p <0.0001), localized muscular endurance of abdominal muscles (p <0.0001), lower limb muscle power (p <0.0001) and aerobic power (p <0.0001). There were no adverse events during or after the intervention period. Conclusion: HIIT is an effective strategy to promote enhancement of neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory fitness in the elderly and showed safe because no orthopaedic and cardiovascular events were reported.

Effects of multimodal agility-like exercise training compared to inactive controls and alternative training on physical performance in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…For lower and upper body strength, the lowest effect sizes were observed for studies with limited study quality [16,19]. Outcome measures of upper body strength were heterogeneous: studies that applied push-ups or arm curls revealed extremely large effect sizes [14,37,38], whereas moderate effect sizes were found in studies measuring isometric grip strength [38,40] and isometric and [15]. Higher effects on upper body strength compared to lower body strength might be due to higher similarities of testing and training.…”

“…Fifteen out of 20 studies used a two-armed [14,16,17,19,31,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][42][43][44], three studies a three-armed [18,29,40,41] and two studies a four-armed study design [13,15]. As it was part of the inclusion criteria, all studies applied standard randomization procedures for group assignment.…”

“…As it was part of the inclusion criteria, all studies applied standard randomization procedures for group assignment. According to the PEDro score, the median of the study quality was 6 and ranged from 4 [31,37,43] to 8 [17,18,35] (see Table 3). None of the studies blinded participants or therapists, since blinding is problematic within exercise intervention studies.…”

“…Nine of the 20 included studies blinded the assessors [15, 17-19, 34-36, 41, 44]. Only two did not specifically report participant eligibility [18,37].…”

Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Enhance the Physical Exercise Effect Against the Cognition Impairments and Dementia Symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Experimental Controlled Trial

“…Previous studies have shown that regular physical activity can reduce neurological risk factors such as dementia [49], Parkinson's disease [50], frailty [51], and AD [52], which improve the quality of life [53]. Increased expression, secretion and downstream signalling of neurotrophic factors (BDNF, VEGF, IGF-1), reduced inflammation [54], and cardiovascular improvement, such as reduced arterial stiffness and lowered blood pressure [55][56][57][58], and cardiovascular improvement, such as reduced arterial stiffness and lowered blood pressure [57,59] are some of the mechanisms that could explain exercise-induced neuroplasticity. Taken together, all of these effects can contribute to the development of positive brain health, as shown in numerous studies [60][61][62].…”