Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA.
Clin Interv Aging. 2009;4:115-20. doi: 10.2147/cia.s4152. Epub 2009 May 14.
This study examined the impact of an eight-week active-assisted (AA) stretching program on functionality, mobility, power, and range of motion (ROM) in elderly residents of a residential retirement community. Seventeen volunteers (4 male, 13 female; 88.8 +/- 5.36 years) were randomly assigned to an AA or control group. The AA group performed 10 different AA stretches targeting the major joints of the body twice weekly for eight weeks. Controls attended classes requiring limited physical activity. All participants were assessed using four flexibility and six functional tests, one week before and after the eight-week training period. A fully randomized repeated-measures ANCOVA with pretest scores as a covariate was used to detect differences between groups across time. The AA group demonstrated significant increases in ROM for most of the joints evaluated (p < 0.05) and significant increases in all performance measures (p < 0.05). Controls showed no improvements in functional or ROM measures (alpha = 0.05). Additionally, the AA group showed significantly better performance outcomes across the training period than controls. We conclude that our eight-week flexibility program effectively reduces age-related losses in ROM and improves functional performance in elderly persons with insufficient physical reserves to perform higher-intensity exercises.
本研究考察了为期八周的主动辅助（AA）拉伸计划对住宅退休社区老年居民的功能、移动性、力量和关节活动度（ROM）的影响。17 名志愿者（4 名男性，13 名女性；88.8 +/- 5.36 岁）被随机分配到 AA 组或对照组。AA 组每周进行两次，共进行 10 次针对身体主要关节的不同 AA 拉伸，为期八周。对照组参加需要有限体力活动的课程。所有参与者在八周训练期前后一周使用四项柔韧性和六项功能性测试进行评估。采用完全随机重复测量方差分析，以预测试成绩为协变量，检测组间随时间的差异。AA 组显示大多数评估关节的 ROM 有显著增加（p < 0.05），所有表现测量均有显著增加（p < 0.05）。对照组在功能或 ROM 测量方面没有改善（alpha = 0.05）。此外，AA 组在整个训练期间的表现结果明显优于对照组。我们得出结论，我们的八周柔韧性计划可有效减少与年龄相关的 ROM 丧失，并改善身体储备不足以进行高强度运动的老年人的功能表现。
