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Updated: Dec 13, 2025
Improving Strength, Power, Muscle Aerobic Capacity, and Glucose Tolerance through Short-term Progressive Strength Training Among Elderly People
Published on: July 5, 2017
Effectiveness of early versus delayed exercise and nutritional intervention on segmental body composition of
Ke-Vin Chang1, Wei-Ting Wu2, Kuo-Chin Huang3
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, Taiwan; Community and Geriatric Medicine Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, Taiwan; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background & Aims:
Although resistance training with nutritional support is considered the best treatment option for sarcopenia, the importance of home-based exercise should not be overlooked. For managing sarcopenia, a fundamental issue is whether home-based exercise or a supervised training program should be administered first. Therefore, the present trial aimed to compare the effect of early versus delayed exercise intervention with nutritional support on the physical performance and body composition of sarcopenic elders.
Methods:
The study was a randomized controlled trial using a parallel-group design. Each group received two therapeutic periods lasted 12 weeks with an interval of 2 weeks in between. Physical performance and body composition were assessed at baseline and immediately following the end of the first and second phases. One phase included hospital-based resistance training and nutritional support (amino acid, calcium, and vitamin D3), whereas the other phase included home-based exercise. In the early intervention group, supervised exercise and nutrition supplementation were administered first followed by home-based exercise, whereas the sequence was reversed in the delayed intervention group. The influence of intervention sequence on the outcome variables was examined using a 3∗2 repeated-measures analysis of variance. The primary endpoints were defined as changes in lean mass and related physical function (grip strength and gait speed) over 12 and 26 weeks of interventions.
Results:
A total of 57 sarcopenic elders were randomly assigned to the early (n = 29) and delayed (n = 28) intervention groups. Among the primary endpoints, the only significant group-time interaction was recognized on the changes of lower extremity lean mass (p = 0.039). The early intervention was associated with an earlier increase in lower extremity lean mass (770.8 g, 95% confidence interval (CI), 564.8 g-976.9 g) than delayed intervention (294.2 g, 95% CI, -42.13 to 630.5 g) which was evident from the between-group comparison between baseline and the 1st follow-up (p = 0.016). No significant effect of group-time interaction was observed on the physical performance and other components of body composition.
Conclusions:
Early exercise and nutritional intervention may be helpful in an earlier restoration of lower extremity muscle mass but not physical function in sarcopenic elders. When designing a rehabilitation program for patients with sarcopenia, resistance training with nutrition support can be prescribed first for the rapid enlargement of the muscle volume, and structuralized home-based exercise can be administered subsequently to preserve the prior intervention effect.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02779088).
