B e n e f i t s o f E x e rc i s e i n t h e
O l d e r Po p u l a t i o n
Juan Galloza,
MD
a
, Brenda Castillo,
MD
b
, William Micheo,
MD
c,
*
KEYWORDS
Exercise Physical activity Older adults Elderly Aerobic Resistance
Flexibility Balance
KEY POINTS
The older adult population has been on an increasing trend in the past years and is expected to continue increasing over the next 20 years.
There are several physiologic changes associated with aging that will cause a progressive
decline in function.
Exercise activity has been well established as a preventive and treatment strategy to
counteract the detrimental changes of aging.
An appropriate exercise program should include a combination of aerobic, resistance,
flexibility, and balance exercises.
The exercise recommendations should be individually tailored to the abilities, precautions,
and goals of each person.
INTRODUCTION
Older adults 65 years of age and older compose 13% of the US population according
to the US Census of 2010, an increase of 15% when compared with the previous
census of the year 2000. This trend is expected to continue and will result in a 20%
of the total population by the year 2030 being considered old.1,2 Physiologic changes
of aging that limit function and general quality of life (QOL), occur at a faster rate as we
get older.3 Sedentary behavior also increases with age making older adults the most
sedentary population, with 65% to 80% of their waking time spent sitting.4 This lack of
physical activity has negative effects on cardio-metabolic health, muscle-tendon
Disclosure: The authors have nothing to disclose.
a
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TIRR Memorial Hermann, 1333 Moursund
Street, Houston, TX 770030, USA; b Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, VA
Caribbean Healthcare System, 10, Calle Casia, San Juan, PR 00921, USA; c Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Puerto
Rico, Office A-204, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00926, USA
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: william.micheo@upr.edu
Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am 28 (2017) 659–669
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmr.2017.06.001
1047-9651/17/ª 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
pmr.theclinics.com