Dual-benefits of Aerobic and Resistance Training

This project is confronting age‐related physical disability by optimizing exercise strategies for older adults. Aerobic training is recommended to improve cardiorespiratory (heart and lung) function, while strength training is recommended for muscular function. These exercise effects are necessary for building healthier lives and reducing mortality and disability risk, but most older adults who do exercise typically only perform one type of exercise. In doing so they are missing a key component for healthy aging. This study will address whether stationary‐cycling high‐intensity interval training results in both cardiorespiratory and muscular improvements, and it will be the first controlled study comparing adaptations to high‐intensity interval, aerobic, and strength training in sedentary older adults. It is unclear whether the lack of muscular adaptations to traditional aerobic training is due to the low intensity/high volume model that is currently prescribed, and thus the central hypothesize of the study is that stationary‐cycling high‐intensity interval training can improve both cardiorespiratory and muscular function. To test this hypothesis, the investigators will measure heart, lung, and muscle function, as well as physical performance in sedentary older adults, before and after 12 weeks of supervised training using one of three exercise strategies; stationary‐cycling high‐intensity interval training, stationary‐cycling moderate‐intensity continuous training, or strength training. By comparing the outcomes across these three groups, the investigators will be able to confirm if short intervals of high‐intensity exercise can elicit both cardiorespiratory and muscular benefits. This work will demonstrate that older adults can improve their cardiovascular health and muscular strength with a single exercise strategy. Establishing in detail the cardiovascular and muscular benefits of this exercise can lead to the implementation of new and improved exercise guidelines for cardiovascular health and reduced physical disability in older adults. Incidentally, it will also provide a framework for future studies to investigate the importance of intensity in exercise. At the end of this study the investigators will be able to disseminate a new evidence‐based exercise protocol that will address a significant barrier to healthy aging.