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Effects of a short-term personalized intermittent work exercise program (IWEP) on maximal cardio-respiratory function and endurance parameters among healthy young and older seniors

  • JNHA: Clinical Trials and Aging
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a short-term Intermittent Work Exercise Program (IWEP) among healthy elderly subjects.

Study design and setting

This longitudinal prospective study took place at the Strasbourg University Hospital geriatric department.

Study participants

One hundred and fifty older volunteers, previously determined as being free from cardiac and pulmonary disease, were separated into two age groups: the “young senior” (60.2 ± 3.1 yr) and the “older senior” groups (70.8 ± 5.2 yr).These groups were then subdivided by gender into the “young female senior”, “young male senior” “older female senior” and “older male senior” groups.

Intervention

Before and after the IWEP, all subjects were asked to perform an incremental cycle exercise to obtain their first ventilatory threshold (VT1), maximal tolerated power (MTP), peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and maximal minute ventilation (MMV). The IWEP consisted of a 30-min cycling exercise which took place twice a week, and was divided into six 5-min stages consisting of 4 min at VT1 intensity and 1 min at 90% MTP.

Measurements

An assessment was made of the effects of the IWEP on maximal cardio-respiratory function (MTP, VO2peak, MMV) and endurance parameters (VT1, heart rate [HR] measured at pretraining VT1 and lactate concentrations at pre-training MTP).

Results

This short-term training program resulted in a significant increase of MTP (from 13.2% to 20.6%), VO2peak (from 8.9% to 16.6%) and MMV (from 11.1% to 21.8%) in all groups (p<0.05). VT1 improved from 21% at pretraining to 27%, while HR at pre-training VT1 as well as lactate concentrations at pre-training MTP decreased significantly in all groups (p<0.05). The post-training values for VO2peak and MMV of the “older seniors” were not significantly different (p>0.05) from the “young seniors” pre-training values for the same parameters.

Conclusion

The most striking finding in this study is that after only 9 weeks, our short-term “individually-tailored” IWEP significantly improved both maximal cardio-respiratory function and endurance parameters in healthy, previously untrained seniors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatric department, University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

    T. Vogel, G. Kaltenbach & J. Lonsdorfer

  2. Department of physiology and EA-3072, Faculty of medicine, Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France

    T. Vogel

  3. Laboratory of physiological adaptation and exercise, Faculty of Sports Science, Amiens, France

    P. -M. Leprêtre

  4. Center for Public Health Analysis, French School of Public Health, Rennes, France

    P. -H. Brechat

  5. Physiology and Functional Explorations Department, University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

    E. Lonsdorfer

  6. Geriatric Department, University Hospital, Nancy-Brabois, France

    A. Benetos

  7. Geriatric department, Pavillon Schutzenberger, Hôpital de la Robertsau, University Hospital, 83 rue Himmerich, Strasbourg, 67000, France

    T. Vogel

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  1. T. Vogel
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  2. P. -M. Leprêtre
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  3. P. -H. Brechat
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  4. E. Lonsdorfer
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  7. J. Lonsdorfer
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Correspondence to T. Vogel.

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Vogel, T., Leprêtre, P.M., Brechat, P.H. et al. Effects of a short-term personalized intermittent work exercise program (IWEP) on maximal cardio-respiratory function and endurance parameters among healthy young and older seniors. J Nutr Health Aging 15, 905–911 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-011-0087-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-011-0087-4

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