Journal: The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness
Article Title: Resistance training with dietary intake maintenance increases strength without altering body composition in older women.
PMID/MRN: 27735890
Publication Date: 2016-Oct-13
Abstract:
Evidence suggests that the aging process tends to lead to sarcopenia and osteoporosis which reduce the quality of life in older women. Resistance training (RT) is widely supported as a means of delaying or offsetting the decline in muscle strength and loss of bone mineral content in older women. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the effects of a 12-wk RT program (3 times a week) with dietary intake maintenance on muscle strength and body composition of healthy, sedentary older women.
Forty-four older women were randomly assigned to a RT program (n = 22, 66.3 ± 4.8 years, 60.7 ± 9.1 kg, 153.1 ± 0.90 cm, 24.9 ± 3.3 kg/m2 ) or a control group (n = 22, 66.4 ± 4.0 years, 63.3 ± 7.5 kg, 155.5 ± 5.8 cm, 26.2 ± 2.6 kg/m2) performing stretching exercises during the same period. One-repetition maximum test on chest press and leg extension were used to assess muscle strength. Body composition was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry to determine fat mass, fat-free mass, and bone mineral content. Dietary intake was recorded using a 3-day food records. All subjects maintained their normal diet during the investigation.
No significant differences were found for the body composition components within and between groups. A significant time by group interaction indicated that the RT group made greater improvements in upper and lower limb muscle strength (chest press ~12%, p = 0.0001; leg extension ~13%, p <0.0001).
These results suggest that RT program improves muscle strength of major muscle groups, without altering body composition in older women under dietary intake maintenance.