Eight Week Exercise Intervention Improves Physical Fitness in Healthy Elderly and Those with Parkinson's disease

To determine the effects of an eight week exercise intervention on muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility in elderly adults with and without PD. Ten elderly adults with PD and seven age-matched healthy controls participated in 24 exercise sessions over an eight week period. The program included total-body exercise, as recommended by ACSM, including static stretching, multi-joint resistance training using 50-80% of the one-repetition maximum for a total of 8-15 repetitions, and cycle ergometry at moderate intensity. Repeated-measures analysis of variance demonstrated a significant (p < or = 0.002) improvement in RHR (73 beats min [sup 1] pre, 65 beats min [sup 1] post), EHR (105 beats min [sup 1] pre, 94 beats min [sup 1] post), SCP (67.8+ or -37.6 lbs. pre, 89.2+ or -45.1 lbs. post), SLP (151.8+ or -68.5 lbs. Pre, 206.4+ or -86.7 lbs. post), CU (22 repetitions pre, 37 repetitions post), and SR (8.3+ or -2.7 inches pre, 11.2+ or -2.98 inches post).