Different training responses in elderly men and women following a prolonged muscle resistance training intervention

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Documents

  • Fulltext

    Accepted author manuscript, 8.13 MB, PDF document

Resistance training is an effective strategy to counteract the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength in elderly, but whether the benefits of training differ between sexes is unclear. A total of 297 elderly men and women were randomized to 1 year of heavy resistance training (HRT) or control (CON). Changes in muscle function and body composition were compared between sexes and groups. Improvements in muscle strength, body fat, muscle mass and size were observed, but the absolute improvements in muscle strength (23 Nm ± 2.3 vs 11 Nm ± 2.2, P < .01) and visceral fat content (−215 g ± 50 vs −60 g ± 21, P < .01) were greater in men. Also, the relative decrease in body fat % (−6.8% ± 1.1 vs −2.7% ± 0.7, P < .05) and fat mass (−7.9% ± 1.4 vs −2.7% ± 1.0, P < .05) was more pronounced in men. Heavy resistance training improved more than CON in most muscular and body composition parameters with greater increase in muscle strength and decrease in body fat in men. Consequently, resistance training is recommendable to counteract age-related losses of muscle mass and strength and to reduce body fat in elderly, however, with a small advantage for men in parameters that predict metabolic risk factors.
Original languageEnglish
JournalTranslational Sports Medicine
Volume4
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)892-899
Number of pages8
ISSN2573-8488
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2021

ID: 302911690