Effects of Resistance Training Program on Physical Performance, Health Parameters and Quality of Life in Elderly (RTCHealth)

Participants and study design Figure 1 depicts a flowchart of this study. A total of 75 subjects were recruited from an elderly social groups and voluntarily participated in the study. After 9 subjects were excluded, 66 were ramdomly allocated to either the experimental group (EG, n= 33) or control group (CG, n= 33) at baseline. Subsequently, 25 subjects in the EG y 20 subjects in the CG completed the 12 weeks´follow-up assessments. The general characteristics of the subjects are given in Table 1. All subjects were originally from Murcia, Spain and were chosen according the following inclusion criteria: age ≥ 65 years, they never attended classes of fitness academies or following PA, and had no experience with ST. Exclusion criteria included any history of neuromuscular, metabolic, hormonal, cardiovascular diseases. Subjects were not taking any medication that could influence hormonal and neuromuscular metabolism. Participants were carefully informed about the possible risks and discomforts that could occur and were asked to complete a health history questionnaire and to sign a consent form. This study was performed in accordance with the standards of 1964 Declaration signed in Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), Spain.

Data collection pre and post-training (12 weeks) was performed in two days. On the first visit, between 8:00 and 9:00, biological test and quality of life measures were made. On the second day (24 hours after), the submaximal strength test was applied.

Nutrition and dietetics Isocaloric diets based on Mediterranean food were administrated at participants. Diets were analyzed and designed using Diet source software (Novartis, Barcelona, Spain), and were adapted accordingly to each particular subject. Diets were adjusted to strength exercises, including 1-1.2 g of protein/kg of body weight,36-38 25-30% of fat of total kcal and the remaining kcal was completed with carbohydrates as the main macronutrient, corresponding to 55-60% of total kcal. In general terms, the subjects performed 5 daily intakes. Daily energy intakes were adapted according to activity and frequency taking in account training and resting days.

Measures Fat mass Total body weight and % fat mass was measured after removal of shoes and heavy outer clothing, using a Tanita BC-418 MA (Tanita Corporation, Arlington Heights, IL) to the nearest 0.1 kg. Standing height without shoes was measured using a Seca 202 stadiometer (Seca, Hamburg, Germany) to the nearest 0.1 cm. BMI was calculated as the ratio of weight to squared height.

Functional autonomy The Latin American Group for Maturity (GDLAM) protocol was used to evaluate functional autonomy.15,40-42 It is composed of five tests: walking 10 m (W10m); standing up from a seated position (SSP); standing up from a prone position (SPP); standing up from a chair and moving about the room (SCMA); and putting on and taking off a shirt (PTS). These tests are used in a mathematical formula to calculate the GDLAM index (GI). The equipment used consisted of a 48-cm chair (measured from the seat to the floor), a stopwatch (Casio, Malaysia), two cones, a mat (Olive Fitness, Spain) and a sunny brand metal tape measure.