Health and Fitness Class at Teikyo University ―Effects of Combined Resistance Exercise with Slow-Movement and Cardiovascular Exercise on Physical Fitness and Muscular Function in Older Adults―

Purpose: To identify effects of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise with slow-movement and low-intensity on physical fitness and muscular strength in older adults for 8 weeks. Methods: Eight males （66.9 ±8.8yrs） and ten females （62.6±5.3yrs） who did not exercise regularly participated voluntarily in this study. The exercise in this study was consisted of 15 min of warmup, 15 min of aerobic exercise with bicycle ergometer, 35 min of resistance exercise with 50% of 1RM and slow-movement, and 15min of cooling down. Primary outcome measures included anthropometric characteristics, graded submaximal aerobic fitness test with YMCA cycle ergometry protocol, physical fitness test （grip strength, sit-ups, sit and reach, 6 minutes of walking, one-leg balance test with opened eyes） , timed up and go test （Up&go test） , one repetition maximum（1RM） of 6 separate exercises, and physiological blood profile. This study examined range of motion of knee and elbow joint, scale of perceived pain during resting （PAIN-rest） and walking（PAIN-walk） , and muscle strengths during training to identify delayed onset muscle soreness （DOMS） . Results: The blood pressures both groups significantly decreased after 16 regimens of exercise （p<0.05-0.01） . Both groups did not change aerobic fitness. The male group significantly changed situps （p<0.01） , sit and reach test （p<0.05） , 6 min of walking（p<0.01） , and Up&go test （p<0.01） . The female groups, also, significantly improved all measurements of physical fitness test and Up&go test （p<0.05-0.001） . Both groups experienced a significant increase in 1RM of 6 exercises after the 8 weeks of the slow and low-intensity resistance exercises without DOMS（p<0.05-0.001） . The muscular strengths of lower extremities both groups increased more than those of upper extremities. The subjects in this training session did not change the range of motion of knees and elbows, PAINrest and Pain-walk and muscle strength which were identified DOMS. Conclusions: The present study showed that 1） this low-intensity resistance exercise program with slow movement in older adults was effective in increasing strength after the 8-week training period with 2 times per week, 2） the combined resistance exercise and aerobic exercise training program for 8 weeks was effective in increasing physical fitness and decreasing blood pressure at rest, and 3）