Episode 19... that's almost 20! They said we couldn't do it... but here we are ah-doing-it!
Today I'm joined by the king of stats, Dr. James Steele. Dr. Steele is a good friend and colleague, former associate professor at Solent University and currently the head of the research department for Keiser Australia (HERE).
He joins me on the show today to discuss a relatively recent paper he was a major part of called "Machine-based resistance training improves functional capacity in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis." (HERE). This paper is a fantastic Meta-Analysis (combining multiple papers together on the same topic), that looked at the effects of resistance training on machines and how that affected functional capacity measures in older individuals.
Often fitness folks confuse the idea that "functional training" must involve things like, balance, coordination, free weights, bands, and plyometrics. The results from this paper show that simple progressive resistance training using full body resistance machines, improves these results just as much as traditional "functional training". This is great news for older individuals (and younger ones) who want to get stronger and feel better well into their golden years.
You don't have to do any fancy exercises to improve functional capacity. Simply strength train hard, brief, and infrequent. Progress the weights and reps over time, and you've got all the functional training you'll need. As with most things, this applies to older individuals and also... athletes.
If you're interested in hearing more about why exercise doesn't have to be complicated, give this episode a listen!
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