The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of three resistance exercise orders on muscular strength, body composition, and functional fitness in trained older women. Forty-five women (aged >= 60 years), after performing 12 weeks of a pre-conditioning resistance-training program were randomly assigned in one of the following groups that performed the exercises in the following orders: multi-joint to single-joint order (MJ-SJ, n = 15), single-joint to multi-joint order (SJ-MJ, n = 15), and alternating between upper and lower body order (ALT, n = 15). Specific training intervention lasted 12 weeks (3x/week) and was composed of eight exercises performed in three sets of 15/10/5 repetitions, with increasing load through the sets. Muscular strength was estimated by one-repetition maximum tests; body composition was assessed by whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and functional fitness was analyzed with a sequence of four motor tests. All groups improved similarly in muscular strength (Cohen's effect size MJ-SJ 0.45; SJ-MJ 0.48; ALT 0.45), skeletal muscle mass (MJ-SJ 0.08; SJ-MJ 0.07; ALT 0.09), and functional test performance (MJ-SJ 0.38; SJ-MJ 0.20; ALT 0.31), but no change was observed for body fat (p > 0.05). The results suggest that 12 weeks of resistance training induce positive changes in muscle morphofunctionality, regardless of the exercise order employed in trained older women.

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