TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mayer, Frank
A1  - Scharhag-Rosenberger, Friederike
A1  - Carlsohn, Anja
A1  - Cassel, Michael
A1  - Müller, Steffen
A1  - Scharhag, Jürgen
T1  - The intensity and effects of strength training in the elderly
JF  - Deutsches Ärzteblatt international : a weekly online journal of clinical medicine and public health
N2  - Background: The elderly need strength training more and more as they grow older to stay mobile for their everyday activities. The goal of training is to reduce the loss of muscle mass and the resulting loss of motor function. The dose-response relationship of training intensity to training effect has not yet been fully elucidated.
 Methods: PubMed was selectively searched for articles that appeared in the past 5 years about the effects and dose-response relationship of strength training in the elderly.
 Results: Strength training in the elderly (> 60 years) increases muscle strength by increasing muscle mass, and by improving the recruitment of motor units, and increasing their firing rate. Muscle mass can be increased through training at an intensity corresponding to 60% to 85% of the individual maximum voluntary strength. Improving the rate of force development requires training at a higher intensity (above 85%), in the elderly just as in younger persons. It is now recommended that healthy old people should train 3 or 4 times weekly for the best results; persons with poor performance at the outset can achieve improvement even with less frequent training. Side effects are rare.
 Conclusion: Progressive strength training in the elderly is efficient, even with higher intensities, to reduce sarcopenia, and to retain motor function.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2011.0359
SN  - 1866-0452
VL  - 108
IS  - 21
SP  - 359
EP  - U30
PB  - Dt. Ärzte-Verl.
CY  - Cologne
ER  -