Feasibility and Impact of High-Intensity Walking Training in Frail Older Adults

To investigate the impact of high-intensity walking training (HIWT) on prefrail and frail older adults, five assisted living residents underwent a supervised 12-session intervention. The intervention consisted of 30 min of HIWT at 70-80% of heart rate reserve or ratings of 15 to 17 (hard to very hard) on the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale. Training included walking at fast speeds, multi-directions, stairs, and outdoor surfaces with and without an assistive device. Training significantly reduced frailty using the SHARE-FI (p = .008), increased fast gait speed (p = .01), improved 6-min walk test distance (p = .03), and enhanced Berg Balance Scale scores (p = .03). There were no adverse events and all participants reached target training intensity in all 12 sessions. Participants viewed the walking intervention as highly satisfactory (9.6/10 on a Likert scale) and 100% recommended that the assisted living facility should offer HIWT as part of routine programming.