The purpose of this study was to determine effects of two different strength training regimens on strength of choosen muscle gropus and their effects on balance tasks performance and correlations in older adults.
The research included 30 participants, which were randomly devided assainged to two groups. First group participated in hypertrophy resistance training on fitness machines (15 participants, 65±4,6 years, 68,8±11,3 kg, 160,5±8,1 cm), while second group performed strength training with gymnastic exercises (15 participants, 66±4,8 years, 77,2±12,5 kg, 164,5±8,3 cm). Both groups performed 2 sessions weekly for 9 weeks. Measurements of different balance tests and maximal isometric voluntary contractions of chosen muscle groups were conducted before and after completed training protocol. Workout on fitness machines contained 10 different exercises; meanwhile gymnastic exercise training was made up of 12 different exercises. In both cases, exercises were mainly chosen to affect leg and trunk muscles.
The results of the strength tests showed statistically significant changes in ankle and trunk extensors for both groups. Significant improvement in leg extensors torque was calculated for fitness machine group, meanwhile in other group significant improvement was noticed for trunk flexors. All functional reaches were significantly improved in fitness machine group, while improvements in other group were calculated for leg functional reach forward and backward. Both group statistically improved balance while standing on hard and soft ground with eyes open and while tandem standing, meanwhile the fitness machine group also improved stance on soft ground with eyes closed.
We came to a conclusion, that both strength training regimens have positive influence on balance, because muscle strength is very important for postural control and balance.
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