The Effects of Moderate Intensity Cycle Ergometer vs. Treadmill Training on Physiological Resilience in Older Adults

Government guidelines suggest that we should all take part in approximately two and a half hours each week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Older adults are particularly important as their overall health may decline as they get older. Therefore, exercising is important especially for older adults to improve heart and muscle health and functioning in carrying out tasks of daily living. The overall effects of aging on the body can make people less likely to withstand challenges to the body - this is termed 'resilience'. Although aerobic exercise is not super easy and requires continuity, it is not extremely difficult to get used to. However, we still do not know if some types of aerobic exercise are better for you than others at improving resilience. Therefore, this study will look at cycling vs walking to see if one is better at improving resilience in older adults who are 60-80 years old. You will be trained on either a treadmill or cycle ergometer and these exercise sessions will be done over 5 weeks, 3 days a week. Each session will last 40 minutes, start with warm-up and end with cool-down sessions. Assessments will include heart, lung, muscle, and memory and thinking measurements, all of which will be taken before and after the intervention period. This work will help us to better understand how we can improve exercise prescriptions for older adults to sustain their health and functioning in their daily life.