BACKGROUND: Although inactivity is an important contributor to impaired functioning and disability with age, little is known concerning how improvements in physical functioning and well-being in older adults vary with the type of physical activity undertaken. METHODS: One hundred three adults age 65 years and older, recruited via population-based methods, were randomized to 12 months of community-based, moderate-intensity endurance and strengthening exercises (Fit and Firm) or stretching and flexibility exercises (Stretch and Flex). A combination of class- and home-based exercise formats was used. Measured and self-rated physical performance along with perceived functioning and well-being were assessed pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS: Fit and Firm subjects showed greater 12-month improvements in both measured and self-rated endurance and strength compared to Stretch and Flex subjects. Stretch and Flex subjects reported greater improvements in bodily pain, and Stretch and Flex men evidenced greater improvements in flexibility relative to Fit and Firm subjects. Although overall exercise adherence was high in both exercise conditions (approximately 80%), subjects in both conditions showed better adherence to the home- versus class-based portions of their exercise prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based programs focusing on moderate-intensity endurance and strengthening exercises or flexibility exercises can be delivered through a combination of formats that result in improvement in important functional and well-being outcomes. This represents one of the first studies to report significant improvements in an important quality of life outcome-bodily pain-with a regular regimen of stretching and flexibility exercises in a community-based sample of older adults.
Copyright the Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher