Associations of Physical Activity with One-Year Functional and Cognitive Trajectories Following High-Speed Resistance Training in Older Adults

Vollständiger Abstract

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Background: Engaging in regular physical activity (PA) after completing structured exercise programmes may contribute to sustaining functional and cognitive gains in older adults over the long term. This study investigated whether different levels of PA during the one-year follow-up were associated with the preservation of the physical and cognitive gains achieved after a high-speed resistance training (HSRT) intervention lasting 16 weeks. Methods: Thirty-six community-dwelling older adults who had previously finished a supervised 16-week HSRT programme were monitored for one year. According to self-reported PA assessed at the one-year follow-up, participants were allocated to either a light activity group (LAG, n = 20) or a moderate-to-vigorous activity group (MVAG, n = 16). The following tests were used to assess physical function: six-minute walk test (6MWT), chair-stand test, seated medicine ball throw (SMBT), timed up-and-go test (TUG), and handgrip strength (HGS), whereas global cognitive function was assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: Exploratory between-group comparisons indicated that participants in the MVAG tended to show better chair-stand performance at the six-month (dunb = 0.76 [0.09 to 1.45]) and one-year (dunb = 1.02 [0.34 to 1.74]) assessments. SMBT performance declined similarly in both groups throughout follow-up (LAG: dunb = −0.41 [−0.61 to −0.24]; MVAG: dunb = −0.44 [−0.72 to −0.21]). Although the group × time interaction did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.079, ηp2 = 0.088), exploratory analyses showed that declines in chair-stand and TUG performance occurred mainly in the LAG, pointing to possible patterns related to the maintenance of functional capacity. Cognitive performance decreased post-intervention in both groups, regardless of the PA level. Conclusions: Higher levels of self-reported PA assessed at the one-year follow-up were associated with more favourable trends in lower-limb functional performance.