Effects of a Smart Circuit Exercise Program on Health Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

This study was conducted in collaboration with a community-based retirement facility to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a smart, technology-assisted circuit exercise intervention for community-dwelling older adults. Traditional exercise prescriptions for older adults often lack real-time monitoring of individual physiological responses, which can increase the risk associated with exercise participation. This program integrated real-time physiological monitoring (including heart rate reserve, HRR) to guide individualized exercise intensity within a moderate-intensity range (50%-60% HRR). The study was conducted in two stages with different allocation designs: Stage 1 (Randomized Controlled Design): Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group received the smart circuit exercise program, while the control group did not receive the exercise intervention and underwent pre- and post-assessment only. This stage allowed for between-group comparison of intervention effects. Stage 2 (Single-Group Extension): Following completion of Stage 1, the facility extended the exercise program to a broader group of community residents as part of a real-world implementation and scale-up initiative, in order to evaluate the program under routine practice conditions and to provide equitable access to the intervention across the community. A concurrent control group was not maintained during this stage, consistent with its focus on real-world effectiveness evaluation rather than efficacy comparison. Participants in both stages received circuit-based exercise training three times per week (24 sessions total over approximately 8 weeks), with intensity controlled at 50%-60% heart rate reserve (HRR). Outcome measures assessed before and after the intervention period included: cardiac autonomic activity and hemodynamic function (including blood pressure and heart rate variability), arterial stiffness, body composition