Resistance training for 3 months improves both leg strength and walking endurance in healthy, community-dwelling elderly persons. This finding is relevant to older persons at risk for disability, because walking endurance and leg strength are important components of physical functioning. Ann Intern Med. From the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, and the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. For current author addresses, see end of text .
Physical disability is common among older persons living within the community.
Participants did symptom-limited treadmill stress tests at baseline, and we collected expired gas to determine peak aerobic capacity. We tested 29 participants to arrive at the final study sample of 24 persons. Because none of the participants had angina, claudication, or exercise-limiting arthritis, exhaustion was defined as a combination of leg fatigue, dyspnea, and overall body fatigue. After 12 weeks, variables were measured again, and walking endurance was measured at the same absolute workload as before conditioning. The weight-training regimen consisted of three sets of eight repetitions of seven exercises done using a Universal Gym apparatus 3 days per week.