The Benefits of Aerobic, Resistance and Balance Exercises in the Geriatric Population

Functionality means individual capabilities to carry out activities of daily life in a harmless and self-regulating way without being fatigue. Physical inactivity invites various problems in elderly individuals. The reasons of immobility in elderly people are poor health, hospitalization, and disability that reduce body’s muscle mass1. At the age of 50 years, minor reduction in muscle strength occurs and after the age of 65 years each decade it reduces 12% to 15% 2 .The study mentions that “Loss of muscle mass, particularly of fast-twitch or Type II fibers that accompany advanced age, is associated with muscle weakness, increased fatigability, and a loss of functional independency”1. Decreased muscle strength in elderly people which includes reduced muscle mass (atrophy) and decreased capacity to produce enough force that indirectly affects their ADL.1 Hence, Strength training plays an important role in elderly fitness programs. Impaired balance is major cause of falls in elderly individuals and it is necessary to implement balance exercise in their daily life. As people get older, their aerobic capacity is reduced which is responsible for cardiac, pulmonary, and peripheral disease so, aerobic exercise helps geriatric people to improve their aerobic capacity.4

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Older individuals suffer from various diseases like diabetes, heart diseases and stroke. According to National Diabetes Fact sheet (2011), “26.9% or 10.9 million of all people in age 65 years or older had diabetes in 2010”5. The CDC indicates that “seven of every 10 Americans die each year, or more than 1.7 million people die due to chronic disease”5

Numbers of elderly individuals are increasing rapidly. According to th...

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...rowing crisis of chronic disease in United States, retrieved from http://www.fightchronicdisease.org/sites/fightchronicdisease.org/files/docs/GrowingCrisisofChronicDiseaseintheUSfactsheet_81009.pdf

7) Acampora, D., Friedkin, R., Nabors, J., Rizzo, JA., Tinetti, ME., & Williams,CS. (1998). Health care utilization and costs in a Medicare population by fall status. Medical Care 1998;36(8):1174–88. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9708590

8) Clark, J., & Jones, C.J. (1998). National standards for preparing senior fitness instructors. Journal of aging and Physical Activity: 6, 207-221

Jones, J., & Rikli, R. (1999). Development and validation of a functional fitness test for community-residing older adults. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 7, 129-161 http://www.dsnm.univr.it/documenti/OccorrenzaIns/matdid/matdid182478.pdf

9) ACSM guidelines textbook