gms | German Medical Science

The general population shows a marked increase in the proportion of elderly and incapacitated people. Besides endurance training along with the prevention of cardiovascular disease strength training is one of the main topics in sport scientific research into the elderly. For improving in activities of daily living (ADL) and avoidance or prevention of falls two primary goals have to be addressed:

1.

cross-sectional training to reduce age-dependent sarcopenia,

2.

power training to optimize neuromuscular control and regulation.

This workshop gives an overview of how to design an aim-to-target resistance training program. General guidelines will be critical reviewed under examination of the target group and recommendations are given for the acute program variables

• muscle action,
• exercise selection and order,
• training frequency,
• training intensity (% 1-RM, degrees of training intensity, repetition speed),
• training volume (sets, repetitions),
• training interval (rest between sets and repetitions).

These acute program variables result in the decisive variables

• time under tension,
• total force and
• power

to control and regulate the training process.

Besides this theoretical approach the practical realisation stands in front of the workshop. Weight machines and free weights will be used to demonstrate an exemplary resistance training sessions for the elderly trainee. Under consideration of previous experiences with resistance training two different whole body workouts are presented for beginners and intermediate trainees. The possibility of power training in strength training of the elderly will be introduced and discussed.

The participants are invited to take part!