Combined exercise training in older adults : application of a hydraulic resistance machine for multicomponent fitness improvement

Ageing is associated with declines in cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness; yet for older \nadults the ability to perform the basic tasks of daily living is partly dependent on upperand \nlower-body fitness. Exercise training is an effective approach to counteract these age \nassociated declines, with combined exercise training and high-intensity interval training \n(HIT) capable of eliciting improvements in cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness \nsimultaneously. Recently, a new hydraulic resistance exercise machine (Speedflex) has \nbeen developed with potential to be a viable training mode for older adults allowing users \nto perform high speed movements with upper- and lower-body muscles. Accordingly, the \naim of this thesis was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of Speedflex as a training \nstrategy in older adults. \nInitially, this work sought to determine the feasibility of performing exercise training \nusing Speedflex in older adults by quantifying the acute training responses to 1) HIT and \n2) strength training and comparing these against criterion exercise modes. Here, the \nobserved physiological and perceptual responses demonstrated that Speedflex is a \nfeasible mode of exercise training in older adults, capable of inducing a high-intensity \ntraining stimulus. Following this, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed \nto quantify the effects of same-session combined exercise training in older adults with \nresults demonstrating possibly small to possibly large beneficial effects on measures of \nfitness. As muscle power appears to be a critical determinant of physical functioning in \nolder adults, chapter five evaluated the reliability of the Nottingham leg extensor power \nrig, finding it to be reliable both short- and long-term, thereby confirming its suitability \nas a primary outcome measure for the final study and providing data for sample size \nestimation. Finally, chapter six evaluated the effects of a 12-week combined upper- and \nlower-body HIT intervention using Speedflex on physical fitness in older adults. Clear \nbeneficial improvements were observed for participants in the intervention group \ncompared to those in the control group for maximal oxygen uptake (~8%), muscle power \n(~10%) and muscle strength (~6%). The findings presented in this thesis demonstrate that \nboth same-session combined training and HIT performed using Speedflex are capable of \nsimultaneously improving cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness in older adults.