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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #37813
Title: INCREASED ENERGY REQUIREMENTS AND CHANGES IN BODY COMPOSITION WITH RESISTANCE TRAINING IN OLDER ADULTS

Author
item CAMPBELL WAYNE W - PENN STATE
item CRIM MARILYN C - TUFTS-HNRCA
item YOUNG VERNON E - MIT
item EVANS WILLIAM J - PENN STATE

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/1994
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Energy requirements decrease with aging because of decreases in physical activity and in muscle. Little is known of the effects of strength training (ST) on energy expenditure. A 12-week high-intensity ST program was performed by 12 adults (men and women, 56-80 yrs). Its impact on strength, body composition, and energy requirements was studied. ST produced mean increases in strength ranging from 24% to 92% above the average pretraining strengths. There was also a significant decrease in total body fat (4 lbs) with a similar increase in fat free body mass (3 lbs) when compared with pretraining values. The volunteers were fed enough to maintain their weights during the training period. At the end of the training period, the total dietary energy intake had increased by about 15%. This was three times greater than the predicted 5% increase associated with the energy cost of performing the strength exercises. One third of the increase in the energy intake was accounted for by measured increases in resting energy expenditure. The remaining one third increase in the energy intake may have occurred in association with increases in daily activity, training loads during the study, and nonresting metabolic rate. The results from this study indicate that ST is safe and effective in increasing energy expenditure in healthy older adults. Thus, ST may be a useful addition to weight-control programs for older adults. The research findings of this study will be of great interest to scientists whose primary interests are in energy metabolism and/or weight control and to primary care physicians who may advise their older patients to use ST as an adjunct to their weight control programs to increase strength and energy expenditure and decrease body fat.

Technical Abstract: Body composition and the components of energy metabolism were examined in 12 men and women, aged 56 to 80 y, before (baseline) and after 12 weeks of resistance training. Subjects were randomly assigned to groups that consumed diets providing either 0.8 or 1.6 g.kg**-1.d**-1 protein, and adequate total energy to maintain baseline body weight. Fat mass decreased 1.8 +/- 0.4 kg (P<0.001) and fat-free mass (FFM) increased 1.4 +/- 0.4 kg (P<0.01) in these weight-stable subjects. The increase in FFM was associated with a 1.6 +/- 0.4 kg increase in total body water (P<0.01), but no significant change either protein plus mineral mass or body cell mass. With resistance training, the mean energy intake required for body weight maintenance increased by about 15 percent (128 +/- 3 to 147 +/- 6 kJ.kgBW**-1.d**-1, P<0.01). Increased energy expenditure included an increased resting metabolic rate (P<0.02) and the energy cost of re- sistance exercise. Dietary protein intake did not influence these results We conclude that resistance training is an effective way to increase energy requirements, decrease body fat mass and maintain metabolically active tissue mass in healthy older persons, and thus, may be useful as an adjunct to weight control programs for older adults.