May 2026

Senior Strength Training Benefits Last If….

In 1990, a superbly designed strength training (ST) program for 90-year-olds showed that they could increase strength, mobility, independence, and reverse frailty. (Fiatarone et al., JAMA June 1990) The race was on to prove the how’s and why’s again and again. And if benefits were maintained once the program stopped.

Thirty years later a Danish study investigated the long-term benefits of a year-long supervised heavy (HST) or moderate (MST) intensity ST program – a rarity in exercise science – in 451 62-70 year olds. (A control group did not exercise.) They measured muscle power, muscle-strength, muscle-mass, physical function, body composition, hippocampus volume (a part of the brain associated with memory), and physical and mental well-being, pre- and post- training for the next year. They compared those who continued the ST program for >9 months vs those who stopped sooner during the 1-yr follow-up period.

Interestingly, only knee extension/quadriceps strength in the HST group was “preserved” at follow-up at 7% higher than baseline. As expected, those who continued training on their own experienced less decline in strength compared to the group that stopped.

Also, as expected, while the HST improved whole-body lean mass during the year of supervision, this benefit was “erased” at 1-yr follow-up. Waist circumference continued to decrease in those who continued training while increasing in those who stopped.

Much as you would expect, the conclusion noted “it is required to continue with physical activity to benefit from the long-term effects of strength training upon muscle function and health in older men and women.”

So don’t stop a good thing once you start.            

Experimental Gerontol Oct. 2020

Whole-Body Electric Stimulation: Good, Bad, or Meh?

Electrical muscle stimulation, or EMS, has been around for eons, used in physical therapy and pain management. By sending controlled electrical currents at regulated intervals, muscles can be excited to contract, which can be therapeutic – by retraining injured or spastic muscles to regain strength and their natural contract-relax modes or by resetting nerve signals that inappropriately cause pain. Recently, commercial applications have taken EMS from therapy to Rocky IV (where the Russian, Drago, used it to build bigger muscles) to Green Hills, selling whole-body EMS (WB-EMS) as an alternative, or adjunct, to traditional resistance training.

A laboratory study of the acute effects of a bout of WB-EMS on skeletal muscle damage, kidney function, and metabolic stress was performed on sedentary adults. Since severe muscle damage has been reported in the literature, understanding the time course and magnitude of biochemical effects after WB-EMS training would prove valuable to practitioners and professionals.

The WB-EMS program entails wearing a rig with electrodes that increasingly generate electrical signals to make large groups of muscles fire while performing unresisted exercises like squats.

One group of subjects did the exercises with EMS, the other did them without. Venous blood and urine samples were collected at 24, 48, and 72 hours.

For novice WB-EMS users, “marked skeletal muscle damage” was noted even though perceived exertion was low. While no acute renal dysfunction was observed, the magnitude of biomarker responses confirmed the level of strain experienced. The researchers concluded that WB-EMS is a safe – effective? To be determined – protocol so long as “careful progression” is individualized to the user’s abilities. Just like any resistance training program.    

MSSE Mar. 2026

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