Effects of a 12-week circuit training on fall-related fitness in elderly women with sarcopenia

This study was designed to examine the effects of 12 weeks of circuit training on fall-related fitness, such as gait ability, balance, and isokinetic function in elderly women. Twenty four sarcopenia elderly women were randomly assigned to one of following two groups, i.e., circuit training group (TR: n=12) and control group (CON: n=12). The subjects in TR group completed a circuit training program 60 min per session, three sessions per week for 12 weeks. The subjects in CON group were asked to maintain their normal lifestyle during the same period of the intervention. Main result of the present study were as follows: 1) 10m fast gait ability improved significantly in TR group, and 10m normal gait ability showed a improvement tendency in TR group. 2) Regarding balance, X-axis, Y-axis, and total sways obtained during both static and dynamic balance tests reduced significantly in TR group. 3) With regards to isokinetic function, peak torque per body weight and in the average power per body weight of flexion and extension at 90°/sec increased significantly in TR group. Peak torque per body weight and total workload per body weight of both flexion and extension, as well as muscle endurance ratio of extension at 180°/sec increased significantly in TR group. It was concluded that the 12-week circuit training would contribute on improving gait ability, balance, and isokinetic function in elderly women with sarcopenia. The results means that the circuit training would have positive effects on fall-related fitness, such as gait ability, balance, and isokinetic function, indicating that regular circuit training would be capable of preventing the fall injury.