This review found that muscle strength , balance , and endurance can be improved by physical activity in people aged 40 - 65 years .
There were bigger effects on muscle strength from programs that used resistance exercises , indicating the need to include a resistance training component if strength enhancement is the goal
QUESTION Can physical activity  in adults aged 40 - 65 years enhance strength and balance and prevent falls ?
The effect of an individualized fall prevention program on fall risk and falls in older people: a randomized, controlled trial.
OBJECTIVES To determine whether an individualized falls prevention program comprising exercise , visual , and counseling interventions can reduce physiological falls risk and falls in older people . DESIGN R and omized , controlled trial of 12 months ' duration . SETTING Falls Clinic , Royal North Shore Hospital , Sydney , Australia . PARTICIPANTS Six hundred twenty people aged 75 and older recruited from a health insurance company membership data base . INTERVENTIONS Participants in the extensive intervention group ( EIG ) received individualized interventions comprising exercise and strategies for maximizing vision and sensation ; the minimal intervention group ( MIG ) received brief advice ; and the control group ( CG ) received no intervention . MEASUREMENTS Accidental falls , vision , postural sway , coordinated stability , reaction time , lower limb muscle strength , sit-to-st and performance , and physiological profile assessment ( PPA ) falls risk scores . RESULTS At the 6-month follow-up , PPA falls risk scores were significantly lower in the EIG than in the CG . EIG subjects assigned to the extensive exercise intervention group showed significant improvements in tests of knee flexion strength and sit-to-st and times but no improvements in balance . EIG subjects assigned to the extensive visual intervention group showed significant improvements in tests of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity . The rate of falls and injurious falls within the trial period were similar in the three groups . CONCLUSION The individualized intervention program reduced some falls risk factors but did not prevent falls . The lack of an effect on falls may reflect insufficient targeting of the intervention to an at-risk group
This review found that muscle strength , balance , and endurance can be improved by physical activity in people aged 40 - 65 years .
There were bigger effects on muscle strength from programs that used resistance exercises , indicating the need to include a resistance training component if strength enhancement is the goal
QUESTION Can physical activity  in adults aged 40 - 65 years enhance strength and balance and prevent falls ?