Adaptations in body composition, metabolic health and physical fitness during strength or endurance training or their combination in healthy middle-aged and older adults
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effects of a 21-week endurance, strength and combined training period on body composition, metabolic health, physical fitness and health-related quality life (HRQoL) in healthy 39-77-year-old men and women. The experimental measures (body composition, metabolic variables, maximal oxygen uptake, muscle strength etc.) were assessed before and after training. During the intervention period both endurance and strength training groups trained two times a week. Endurance was performed by cycling, and strength training included high-intensity progressive training for all main muscle groups. The combined group trained four times a week, performing strength and endurance training protocols on different days. The 21-week training period led to large gains in muscle strength and maximal oxygen uptake in the combined strength and endurance group. The magnitude of these increases did not differ from the corresponding changes observed in the group that performed either strength or endurance training alone. Combined training was also of greater value than either endurance or strength training alone in optimizing body composition, ie. decreasing body fat and increasing lean mass in older adults. Both endurance and strength training may modestly improve metabolic health characterized by abdominal obesity, blood lipids and lipoproteins, glucose and insulin metabolism and blood pressure even in healthy normal or slightly overweight men and women. Combined training did not produce additional benefits in any of the metabolic health factors over endurance or strength training alone. Endurance training alone and combined with strength training positively affected some dimensions of HRQoL and combined training especially improved the vitality dimension of the HRQoL over endurance or strength training only. To conclude, the present combined training program did not produce synergistic benefits for metabolic health over endurance or strength training only, but was especially effective in improving body composition and both aerobic performance and muscle strength, which may be of high value in preventing worsening metabolic syndrome risk factors even in low-risk individuals without the metabolic syndrome.
Author: Elina Sillanpää
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2210035133