general well being
RESISTANCE TRAINING AND ITS BENEFITS TO THE SENIOR!
Recent research has shown that older cancer patients can exhibit increased strength and task-performance abilities after undertaking a program of resistance training. Similar studies have been conducted in the past in seniors without the disease and the results very similar. Involving eight male and female patients aged over 65 years, a team led by Catherine Jankowski, PhD, tested ways to fight the loss of function that affects older people, especially those who have had treatment for cancer.
The study subjects completed three exercise machine circuits, three times a week for four months. Nine other older people constituted a control group who continued their daily routines without additional exercise. The results indicate that the participants in the exercise group displayed significantly greater strength in the chest press and leg press than their control group counterparts. The exercise group also exhibited superior upper body physical functioning performance, which translated to an improved ability to perform everyday tasks; including dressing, walking up stairs, vacuuming and carrying groceries; making everyday life easier.
Participants’ daily walking levels were monitored by the study researchers to identify whether or not the strength training had any negative side effects such as fatigue or restriction of their usual day to day physical activities. Through the use of pedometers they were also able to confirm that those in the exercise group and those in the study group didn’t have any significant differences in the amount of walking, or incidental exercise, in their usual daily lives. None of the subjects were regular exercisers prior to the study. There were no negative signs to exercising to any of the case studies.
Jankowski said, ‘What study participants did in the gym had a significant effect on their ability to do day-to-day things. It’s clear that exercise can help seniors live independently as long as possible’. Explaining the importance of the study, she noted that more people now survive cancer, but that the treatment which allows them to do so, combined with some lasting effects of the disease, can result in compromised physical function; ‘People are surviving cancer and” generally we are all “living into older age – but how do we prepare to help them with quality of life?’
So we can clearly see how beginning an exercise routine at any age can benefit us all. Why settle into a sedentary life when there is a whole world waiting for you to explore? Many of our seniors find they make new friends while they exercise, especially in a group environment, or with a personal trainer. This again adds positively to their life and happiness. If you fit into this category, get up and get active. It’s a time when you should be a little more selfish and enjoy life to the fullest.