Study: Older adults benefited from MU-developed exercise program during the pandemic

Older adults trained in a University of Missouri-developed strength-training program stuck with it when the COVID pandemic shut things down, and even expanded upon it, a new MU study shows.

The study participants were trained in MU's Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program over the summer in 2019, said study author Kristin Miller, assistant extension professor in the School of Health Professions.

Then, the pandemic shut things down.

"We wanted to see how they're doing," Miller said.

Participants responded to surveys sent six months, nine months and a year after their first training session.

What she found was a surprise, she said.

"We assumed we would see some increase in physical activity, but not to the extent we did see," Miller said. "Overall, they were just more active than ever before."

Stay Strong, Stay Healthy was developed by MU professor Steve Ball in 2005, Miller said.

It's resistance training. There's an eight-week training program participants go to twice a week for eight weeks. It involves four upper-body and four lower-body exercises. The exercises include squats, bicep curls and lunges.

It's offered through MU Extension, with offices in every county in the state, Miller said. It can be done in person or online.

The training has taken place in church basements, community centers and other locations with a good amount of space, Miller said.

The load-bearing exercises build muscles and create stronger bones, she said.

Pre- and post-assessment is conducted before and after the initial training, Miller said.

But why did program participants become more active when everything shut down?

"We see anecdotal evidence they are empowered," Miller said. "They feel confident. It kind of gives them self-confidence to do more things."

The study also found that participants' sleep improved with the resistance training, Miller said.

More than 20,000 adults over age 50 have been trained in the Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program since it began. It has expanded to Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina and Nevada, Miller said.

"Older adults who resistance train improve physical function and adopt long-term exercise habits despite COVID-19 restrictions" was published in Journal of Sports Sciences.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Participants in MU exercise program stuck with it during shutdown