Original articles   

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2000 March;40(1):1-10

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The effects of physical training of functional capacity in adults. Ages 46 to 90: a meta-analysis

Lemura L. M., Von Duvillard S. P., Mookerjee S.

From the Exercise Physiology Laboratory Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA * Human Performance Laboratory, Department of HPER University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND

Back­ground. ­There is a pro­gres­sive ­decline in the func­tional ­capacity (FC) of the car­di­o­vas­cular ­system ­with ­aging. ­This dete­ri­ora­tion is ­reflected in a ­decrease in the max­imal ­oxygen con­sump­tion (V.O2max). The pur­pose of ­this quan­ti­ta­tive ­review was to deter­mine the ­effects of var­ious com­po­nents of the exer­cise pre­scrip­tion on FC in ­older indi­vid­uals (­ages 46-90 ­years). ­Methods. ­This ­study syn­the­sized the ­results of 27 ­studies by ­meta-anal­ysis, ­which gen­er­ated a ­total of 34 ­effect ­sizes. ­Each ­effect ­size rep­re­sented an inde­pen­dent ­measure of the ­impact of phys­ical ­training on max­imal ­oxygen con­sump­tion (V.O2max). A ­total of 720 sub­jects ­were ­included in ­this ­review. The ­studies ­were ­coded ­according to inten­sity, ses­sion dura­tion, ­length of ­training and ­mode of exer­cise.
­Results. A sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence was ­found (p<0.001) in FC ­between ­studies in ­which the inten­sity of exer­cise was ≥ to 80% of V.O2max com­pared to ­those ­with ­training inten­sities of 60-75% of V.O2max. A sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence was ­found (p<0.002) for exer­cise dura­tion; ­namely, a dura­tion of ≥ 30 min­utes pro­duced sig­nif­i­cantly ­greater improve­ments in V.O2max ­when com­pared to an exer­cise dura­tion ­less ­than 30 min­utes. ­There was no sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence ­reported in FC ­between ­studies ­that ­lasted 15 or ­more ­weeks in dura­tion com­pared to ­those ­that ­lasted ­less ­than 15 ­weeks. ­Finally, ­there was no sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence ­reported in FC in ­studies ­that uti­lized a ­walk/jog ­training ­mode com­pared to ­those ­which uti­lized ­cycle ergom­etry.
Con­clu­sions. ­Despite the inev­i­table ­decline in V.O2max ­with ­aging, exer­cise ­training ­imparts favor­able adap­ta­tions in FC in indi­vid­uals ­well ­into ­their sev­enth and ­eighth ­decades of ­life.