Training study for older adults successfully conducted at IfSS

From September to December 2023, interested senior citizens took part in a training study conducted by the Training & Movement department and trained in small groups at UNIfit. The HNA reported on the study in detail:

Kassel - Gerda Seggelke, Klaus Lehning and Sylvia Volkhardt take a weight in each hand and step boldly onto the wobbly hemisphere. Then they look intently inwards. Now it's time to train with the dumbbells and keep their balance. Even younger observers are amazed at how routinely the senior trio manage this. Ten weeks of regular training have paid off: "I feel fitter," says Klaus Lehning.

He and his two teammates have been exercising twice a week since September - for a study by the University of Kassel. The study is investigating the extent to which strength training on unstable surfaces improves not only physical but also mental performance.

A previous study by the Department of Exercise and Movement Science, headed by Prof. Dr. Armin Kibele, had already shown that wobble training is not only good for preventing falls, but also promotes cognitive fitness. Both memory performance and quick thinking improved. An effect that was not observed with strength training on machines.

In the current study, pure balance training is now being examined as a third form of training. A total of 96 senior citizens from Kassel and the surrounding area took part in the training phase. Before and after the training, they not only underwent physical and motor tests, but were also given cognitive tasks on the computer. The reaction times and error frequency were measured. The comparison of the results will be used to examine in detail whether and to what extent the different forms of training also improved mental performance.

"In this study, we specifically want to find out what role task complexity and coordination play in training for cognitive functions and cognitive performance," explains Lisa Claußen, research assistant at the department. In balance training, the muscular intensity is rather low, but the task demands are high. Strength training on unsteady surfaces, on the other hand, is characterized by both a high muscular intensity and a high task demand, says the doctoral student.

In theory, it is assumed that people are more attentive when training on unstable surfaces and have to concentrate more on their own movement and that this in turn also activates the brain, says Lisa Claußen. Whether and to what extent this is true and which other factors play a role is to be investigated in more detail in the study.

The brain waves of some of the senior citizens were also recorded by EEG during the cognitive tests. This should also provide insights into the processes in the brain. The Kassel research team is working together with colleagues from Paderborn University.

Klaus Lehning himself noticed an improvement in the before-and-after comparison: reciting a seven-digit number backwards was much easier for him after the ten-week training phase. Whether the 75-year-old's impression is also confirmed scientifically will become clear in the summer. The results of the study should then be available. "The overarching aim of our research is to improve the quality of life of older people and promote their physical and cognitive health," says Lisa Claußen. The results of the study could help to develop new approaches to achieve this.