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RESEARCH NEWS Pumping iron for pensioners
German researchers have been investigating the extent of the effects that can be achieved by strength straining in older adults and which intensities of exercise are useful, and possible, in those aged 60 and over.
With a growing older population and increasing pressure put on people to work further into their 60s and even 70s, the group wanted to see how resistance work would help to counteract natural muscular atrophy in old age.
The group from the University of Potsdam found that regular strength (resistance) training increased muscle strength, reduced muscular atrophy, and that tendons and bones adapt too. These successes in turn had a preventive effect in terms of avoiding falls and injuries. Greater intensities of training yielded greater effects than moderate and low intensities. In order to increase muscle mass, an intensity of 60-85% of the one-repetition-maximum is required. In order to increase rapidly available muscle force, higher intensities (>85%) are required. The optimum amount of exercise for healthy elderly persons is 3 to 4 training units per week. http://bit.ly/jmPMLT
Exercise linked to longer survival post brain cancer
Brain cancer patients who are able to exercise tend to live significantly longer than sedentary patients, according to scientists at the Duke Cancer Institute.
Patients who reported participating in regular, brisk exercise - the equivalent of an energetic walk five days a week for 30 minutes - had significantly prolonged survival, living a median 21.84 months vs. 13.03 months for the most sedentary patients.
“This provides some initial evidence that we need to look at the effects of exercise interventions, not only to ease symptoms but also to impact progression and survival,” commented Lee W. Jones, PhD, associate professor in the Duke Cancer Institute and senior author of the study.
Jones said a major goal of his research is to discover why exercise may lead to improvements in survival following a cancer diagnosis. http://bit.ly/mK1QJH