Strength Training as a Countermeasure to Aging Muscle and Chronic Disease

• Published in: Sports medicine (Auckland) 2011-04, Vol.41 (4), p.289-306
• Main Authors: Hurley, Ben F., Hanson, Erik D., Sheaff, Andrew K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging - physiology; Alzheimer Disease - prevention & control; Alzheimer Disease - therapy; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - prevention & control; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Care and treatment; Chronic Disease; Chronic illnesses; Complications and side effects; Dementia; Dementia - prevention & control; Dementia - therapy; Diabetes; Disease prevention; Exercise; Fibromyalgia; Fibromyalgia - prevention & control; Fibromyalgia - therapy; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health aspects; Humans; Hypertension; Hypotheses; Insulin resistance; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - prevention & control; Metabolic Syndrome - therapy; Metabolic syndrome X; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial Diseases - prevention & control; Mitochondrial Diseases - therapy; Mitochondrial DNA; Mortality; Muscle diseases; Muscle function; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Musculoskeletal system; Mutation; Obesity; Older people; Patient outcomes; Phosphorylation; Physical fitness; Prevention; Resistance Training; Review Article; Rheumatoid arthritis; Risk factors; Sports Medicine; Sports training; Strength training; Strengthening exercises; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; Weightlifting
• ISSN: 0112-1642; 1179-2035
• DOI: 10.2165/11585920-000000000-00000

Strength training (ST) has long been considered a promising intervention for reversing the loss of muscle function and the deterioration of muscle structure associated with advanced age but, until recently, the evidence was insufficient to support its role in the prevention or treatment of disease. In recent decades, there has been a long list of quality reviews examining the effects of ST on functional abilities and a few on risk factors for specific diseases, but none have provided a comprehensive assessment of ST as an intervention for a broad range of diseases. This review provides an overview of research addressing the effectiveness of ST as an intervention for the prevention or treatment of the adverse consequences of (i) aging muscle; (ii) the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components, i.e. insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, hyperlipidaemia and hypertension; (iii) fibromyalgia; (iv) rheumatoid arthritis; and (v) Alzheimer’s disease. Collectively, these studies indicate that ST may serve as an effective countermeasure to some of the adverse consequences of the MetS, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Evidence in support of the hypothesis that ST reduces insulin resistance or improves insulin action comes both from indirect biomarkers, such as glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA 1c ), and insulin responses to oral glucose tolerance tests, as well as from more direct procedures such as hyperglycaemic and hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp techniques. The evidence for the use of ST as a countermeasure of abdominal obesity is less convincing. Although some reports show statistically significant reductions in visceral fat, it is unclear if the magnitude of these changes are physiologically meaningful and if they are independent of dietary influences. The efficacy of ST as an intervention for reducing dyslipidaemia is at best inconsistent, particularly when compared with other pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, such as aerobic exercise training. However, there is more consistent evidence for the effectiveness of ST in reducing triglyceride levels. This finding could have clinical significance, given that elevated triglyceride is one of the five criterion measures for the diagnosis of the MetS. Small to moderate reductions in resting and exercise blood pressure have been reported with some indication that this effect may be genotype dependent. ST improves or reverses some of the adverse effects of fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthri