Older bodies in motion see big gains.

there's new evidence that older people who strength train may see longer lasting effects than their younger counterparts, for whom significant reductions in muscle strength and endurance have been found in previous research after both long and short periods of detraining.

The Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario found that subjects (age 65 to 81) who trained over a two-year period for twice a week for an hour, performing two to three sets of both upper and lower body exercises at up to 80% of the heaviest weight they could lift once (1-RM) were still able to lift up to 24% above their baseline 1-RM after three years of detraining. Results varied by exercise, but control subjects who performed no strength training over the five years saw declines in strength from baseline levels across the board. Not surprisingly, subjects who performed strength training for two years and, for three additional years, maintenance level training at 60 to 70% 1-RM enjoyed the least decline in strength in their muscles.

The authors postulate that there were gains in muscle learning and coordination in the detrained subjects that endured over the three-year hiatus, and call for further studies to determine both why this appears to occur more readily in the older population, and what the ideal frequency and level of maintenance training might be for those who continue to exercise in their sixth decade and beyond.

(Can. Journ. Appl. Phys., 2003, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 462-474)