Minimum Resistance Training Frequency: Effect on Motivation and Adherence to Train, Overall Health Status and Neuromuscular Performance

It is well accepted that physical activity in the form of resistance training produces a wide variety of neuromuscular-skeletal and health benefits. It is recommended in Finland that older individuals (over 65yr) should perform resistance training twice per week.

Unfortunately, only approx. 5% of older individuals fulfill this recommendation. As Finnish society grows ever older, research should focus on the specific needs of this group and how to improve participation in physical activity, which may ultimately lead to modification of physical activity recommendations - resistance training recommendations are currently the same for young and older adults and do not include specific recommendations on the type of resistance training. However, these recommendations appear to have been developed for "best possible" improvements in maximum strength and muscle size.

Therefore, it is of great importance to identify the number of resistance training sessions per week required to induce improvements in physical fitness, metabolic and bone health status, and importantly the reasons for adherence to/drop-out of resistance training interventions (e.g. motivation to train) in a multi-discipline study. This knowledge would benefit policy makers to update current recommendations for resistance training and to devise strategies to advise realistic targets for resistance training in the older, particularly the less-educated, age group (e.g. TELI-strategy for 2020).

The present study will include a 12-month resistance training intervention with a 12-month follow-up period. Interviews and questionnaires will assess psychological/sociological data and will be collected from both drop-out subjects and those that complete the intervention. Neuromuscular performance and functional capacity will be tested using conventional methods, along with body composition, bone density, and blood tests for metabolic markers of health. Diet and other physical activity will be controlled throughout the intervention period. Measurements are to be performed every 3 months.

It is expected that 5 international peer-reviewed articles will be published in 2016-2017. The data will be presented at international and national conferences in 2015-2017. Finally, results of the entire research will be published in national peer-reviewed journals (e.g. The Age Institute's "Raportteja"). All subjects will be invited to attend an information meeting where group results will be presented and explained.