Trajectories of Maintenance and Resilience in Healthful Eating and Exercise Behaviors in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to describe behavioral change trajectories for healthful eating and exercise in a group of community-dwelling older adults. A secondary aim was to determine predictors of maintenance and resilience. METHOD: Subjects were participants in the Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR) I study who had achieved postaction stage of change for at least one behavior by its end. They were recruited for SENIOR II, a 48-month study with annual assessments on demographic, anthropometric, cognitive, psychosocial, and behavioral variables. RESULTS: Maintainers generally had higher levels of healthy behaviors and better cognitive function. Resilient older adults were similar to maintainers but were older and had greater functional limitations. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that both physical health and psychological capital provide important resources upon which to draw as older adults grow even older. The trajectory model can provide useful information for developing resilience interventions for older adults.

The effect of caffeine ingestion on delayed onset muscle soreness.

The beneficial effects of caffeine on aerobic activity and resistance training performance are well documented. However, less is known concerning caffeine's potential role in reducing perception of pain and soreness during exercise. In addition, there is no information regarding the effects of caffeine on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of caffeine ingestion on muscle soreness, blood enzyme activity, and performance after a bout of elbow flexion/extension exercise. Nine low-caffeine-consuming males (body mass: 76.68 ± 8.13 kg; height: 179.18 ± 9.35 cm; age: 20 ± 1 year) were randomly assigned to ingest either caffeine or placebo 1 hour before completing 4 sets of 10 bicep curls on a preacher bench, followed by a fifth set in which subjects completed as many repetitions as possible. Soreness and soreness on palpation intensity were measured using three 0-10 visual analog scales before exercise, and 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after exercise. After a washout period, subjects crossed over to the other treatment group. Caffeine ingestion resulted in significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower levels of soreness on day 2 and day 3 compared with placebo. Total repetitions in the final set of exercise increased with caffeine ingestion compared with placebo. This study demonstrates that caffeine ingestion immediately before an upper-body resistance training out enhances performance. A further beneficial effect of sustained caffeine ingestion in the days after the exercise bout is an attenuation of DOMS. This decreased perception of soreness in the days after a strenuous resistance training workout may allow individuals to increase the number of training sessions in a given time period.

Non-exercise estimation of VO(2)max using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire.

Non-exercise equations developed from self-reported physical activity can estimate maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2)max) as well as submaximal exercise testing. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) is the most widely used and validated self-report measure of physical activity. This study aimed to develop and test a VO(2)max estimation equation derived from the IPAQ-Short Form (IPAQ-S). College-aged males and females (n = 80) completed the IPAQ-S and performed a maximal exercise test. The estimation equation was created with multivariate regression in a gender-balanced subsample of participants, equally representing five levels of fitness (n = 50) and validated in the remaining participants (n = 30). The resulting equation explained 43% of the variance in measured VO(2)max (SEE = 5.45 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)). Estimated VO(2)max for 87% of individuals fell within acceptable limits of error observed with submaximal exercise testing (20% error). The IPAQ-S can be used to successfully estimate VO(2)max as well as submaximal exercise tests. Development of other population-specific estimation equations is warranted.

Maintaining exercise and healthful eating in older adults: the SENIOR project II: study design and methodology.

The Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR) Project II is an intervention study to promote the maintenance of both exercise and healthful eating in older adults. It is the second phase of an earlier study, SENIOR Project I, that originally recruited 1277 community-dwelling older adults to participate in behavior-specific interventions designed to increase exercise and/or fruit and vegetable consumption. The general theoretical framework for this research is the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Health Behavior Change. The current intervention occurs over a 48-month period, using a manual, newsletters, and phone coaching calls. Annual assessments collect standardized data on behavioral outcomes (exercise and diet), TTM variables (stage of change and self-efficacy), psychosocial variables (social support, depression, resilience, and life satisfaction), physical activity and functioning (SF-36, Up and Go, Senior Fitness Test, and disability assessment), cognitive functioning (Trail Making Test and Forward and Backward Digit Span), physical measures (height, weight, and waist circumference), and demographics. The SENIOR Project II is designed to answer the following question as its primary objective: (1) Does an individualized active-maintenance intervention with older adults maintain greater levels of healthful exercise and dietary behaviors for 4years, compared to a control condition? In addition, there are two secondary objectives: (2) What are the psychosocial factors associated with the maintenance of health-promoting behaviors in the very old? (3) What are the effects of the maintenance of health-promoting behaviors on reported health outcomes, psychosocial measures, anthropometrics, and cognitive status?

Intervening on exercise and nutrition in older adults: the Rhode Island SENIOR Project.

Presented are the basic design, methods, and baseline data analyses for the Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR Project) an experimental study to investigate the relative effectiveness of a 12-month, stage of readiness to change-based multiple-behavior intervention (exercise and nutrition) compared to single-behavior interventions in a community-dwelling population of 1,277 older adults. Relationships between stage of readiness to change in the two target behaviors, as well as the relationship between stage of readiness and self-reported exercise levels and fruit and vegetable consumption, were examined using a combination of Pearson chi-squares, analyses of variance (ANOVA), and Spearman's rank order correlations. Stage of change (SOC) for fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly associated with the dietary measure, and SOC for exercise was associated with both the three physical activity measures and servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Overall, individual older adult's readiness to change seems largely to be behavior-specific.