Effects of resistant training in elderly women with cognitive decline

Abstract

Introduction: With aging, it is common to occur some changes in different areas of cognition, such as memory, executive function, language, psychomotor. However, regular physical activity has been described as an excellent way to alleviate the degeneration caused by aging within the various physical, psychological and social domains. Objective: To evaluate the effects of resistance training in elderly women with mild cognitive impairment. Methods: Experimental study with 31 sedentary elderly women, divided into two groups: control (CG; n=15) and resistance training (GRT; n=16), undergoing anthropometric assessments, body composition, maximum strength, heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and questionnaire application (mini mental state exam). Results: There was an increase in cognitive ability in the GTR (post 26.00 ± 2.13 vs. CG 22.24 ± 3.82 vs. pre 24.06 ± 2.38 GTR). There was a reduction in systolic blood pressure in the GTR (post 107.50±11.97 vs. CG 126.00±9.72 vs. pre 124.13±12.55 mmHg GTR), diastolic blood pressure in the GTR (post 68, 50±8.15 vs. GC 81.73±4.59 vs. pre 74.69±6.87 mmHg GTR), double product in the GTR (post 7746±1244 vs. GC 9336±1595 vs. pre 9286±1309 mmHg x bpm GTR), there was no reduction in HR in the GTR (post 72.00±7.40 vs. GC 74.00±10.50 vs. pre 74.94±8.42 bpm GTR). Regarding muscle strength, it was possible to observe an increase in all exercises. Conclusion: The present study showed that resistance training increased muscle strength and there was a reduction in hemodynamic variables. However, the most important finding of this study was that there was an increase in the cognitive capacity of elderly women.

 Keywords: Aging. Cognition. Mild cognitive impairment. Resistance training. Seniors.