Leg muscle strengthening exercises for persons over 90 years old reduce the risks of falls and fractures.

Universidad Europea de Madrid, in collaboration with the Hospital Gregorio Marañón, has undertaken the first study to take place in Spain regarding the effect of muscular training in people aged over 90. According to this research, elderly people that carry out physical exercise to stimulate their leg muscles manage to avoid factures resulting from falls. The study was co-directed by Professor Alejandro Lucía, Full Professor of Exercise Physiology at Universidad Europea de Madrid, together with Dr. José Antonio Serra, Head of Geriatric Services at the Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid with 40 elderly people aged between 90 and 97 from the Los Nogales Residential Home in Madrid taking part.

Over the seven month study, the participants exercised three times a week, with sessions of 45 minutes each during which they used exercise bicycles and leg presses. “The study was looking at the effect of weight training, in particular that of the muscles of the lower extremities, by applying a light to moderate exercise program that included the exercise bike and leg press over 8 weeks followed by 4 weeks of inactivity”, specified Professor Lucía. The researcher highlighted that “following this exercise program, we managed to increase the average leg strength by up to 10.6 kilos per person”.

Together with the increased strength, the study concluded that the number of falls suffered during the research was significantly less, “with an average reduction of 1.2 falls per person. This is particularly important if we take into account that both the risk of falls and its associated morbimortality significantly increases with age and even more so after passing 90”, indicated Alejandro Lucía, at the same time as maintaining that continued practice of this type of exercise will additionally achieve better results in the elderly regarding balance and their ability to climb stairs.

“Another very important factor to bear in mind is that this study has demonstrated that thanks to appropriate training, we are able to improve our muscular strength almost up to the very end of our lives, which is why we should promote physical exercise”, assures the professor.

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