A Combined Exercise Program in Sedentary Older Adults: A Randomized Control Trial

Background: This study investigated the effectiveness and durability of a combined exercise program on strength, endurance, speed, agility, flexibility, and quality of life in sedentary older adults.Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 27 older adults participated, including 13 individuals in the training group (TG; six women and seven men) and 14 in the control group (CG; six women and eight men). Speed, agility, flexibility, lower-limb muscle strength and endurance, and quality of life were assessed at baseline, immediately after the 8-week intervention, and again two months after the post-test. The TG performed combined exercises (strength plus functional training) three times per week for eight weeks.Results: At the post-test, the TG showed significantly greater improvements than the CG in speed (p < 0.001), flexibility (p = 0.04), lower-limb muscle strength (p = 0.002) and endurance (p < 0.001), agility (p = 0.001), and quality of life in both the physical (p < 0.001) and mental (p < 0.001) domains. At follow-up, significant between-group differences persisted in speed (p < 0.001), flexibility (p = 0.03), strength (p = 0.001), endurance (p < 0.001), agility (p < 0.001), and quality of life in the physical (p = 0.03) and mental (p = 0.04) components.Conclusion: The combined exercise program produced durable improvements in functional capacity and quality of life among sedentary older adults. These findings support the use of multimodal exercise interventions to enhance physical and mental health outcomes in this population.