Zeitschrift für neuartige Physiotherapien

Abstrakt

Aerobic Exercise Prescription for Older Population: A Short Review

Michael T.C. Liang and Steve Jui-Hsing Lin

Aerobic exercise can lower the susceptibility to certain preventable chronic diseases, decrease mortality and improve health in the older adults. The health benefits of aerobic exercise include prevention of cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases; lowering blood pressure and blood lipids; lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, back pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, falls and, to some extent, sarcopenia; and improving quality of life and independent living in older adults. Aerobic training should be continued in order to be beneficial. If it is professionally prescribed by a physiotherapist or clinical exercise specialist using the most current research evidence, aerobic exercise can be enjoyable and safe. Professional and medical supervision during aerobic training may be needed for the older population and those who are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension or who have diabetes mellitus, obesity, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis. More research is still needed to identify the physiological and cellular mechanisms that show exercise can slow the aging process. This review article presents aerobic exercise-induced cardiovascular benefits and optimal exercise prescription for promoting cardiovascular-pulmonary-muscular health and preventing age-related diseases and mortality