Improving Physical Abilities And The Most Efficient Methods In Adults Over 40 Years Old

10.62591/ajpa.2023.12.02

Abstract

Only a small percentage of adults engage in regular physical activity, which means a decline in
quality of life and a very poor result compared to Europe (Osinski, 2013). The purpose of this
literature review is to find the most contemporary methods from the most ranked scientific
works on the improvement of physical abilities and the most efficient methods in adults over
40 years old. Digital databases such as Scopus, Medline, JStore, Embase, Cochrane Central,
PsycInfo, Schoolar, and SPORTDiscus were used in this literature review. Inclusion criteria
are: individuals must be healthy and average age at least 40 years old. Many other studies such
as (Skelton et al., 1994; Foldvari et al., 2000; Bean et al., 2007) report that physical functions
are more related to muscle power than to muscle strength or mass. Strength training has many
benefits on physical function in older adults compared to traditional strength training (Tschopp
et al., 2011; Da Rosa., 2019). Harmonization or proper use of variables such as exercise
selection, breaks, number of sets, number of repetitions, frequency affect the increase in the
level of muscular fitness. Strength, muscular endurance, muscular strength and muscular
hypertrophy are the characteristics that should be trained (Ratamess et al., 2009). While in an
all-inclusive program resistance training improves the cardiovascular system (Fleck. 1988),
limits the risk of coronary heart disease (Goldberg. 1989; Hurley & Kokkinos, 1987), helps
prevent osteoporosis (Layne & Nelson. 1999), removes the risk of diabetes (Miller et al., 1984),
promotes maintaining a healthy weight and losing excess weight (Evans. 1999), reduces the
risk of cancer in the spine (Koffler et al., 1992), helps in psychological/mental well-being (Ewart. 1989) as well as improves dynamic stability and maintenance of functional capacity
(Evans. 1999). In conclusion from the study of Balachandran et al. (2022) found that strength
training leads to improvements in physical function more than traditional strength training.