Effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise on body composition and physical function in older adults: a systematic review

Background: and objective The health impacts of combined aerobic and resistance training on older populations are largely unknown. Therefore, we carried out the current study to systematically investigate the effects of combined exercise on body composition and physical functions of elders. Methodology Literature was searched from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were: 1) healthy participants aged 55 years and above; 2) effects of combined exercise (aerobic combined with resistance training) examined; 3) effects on fat mass and lean mass reported. Research quality of the included studies was assessed by PEDro scale. Results Among the involved 11 studies, 9 out of 11 found that combined exercise increased the amount of lean mass of the elders (0.3–7.4%), while the other 2 reported a decline (3.0% and 3.4%). As for fat mass, all the included studies found that combined exercise decreased the total fat mass (2.19–16.5%) or local fat mass (0.7–40.7%). Furthermore, 5 out of the 11 studies examined the impact of combined training on muscle strength and aerobic power, and exercise was found to increase the lower limb strength (knee flexion: 15.1–15.9%; knee extension: 11.6–16.9%; and leg press 1 RM: 17.6–54.3%). Moreover, 5 studies assessed and reported that combined exercise was associated with an increased VO 2 peak (1.0–145.6%). Conclusions This systematic review revealed that a 8–52 weeks’ combined exercise, such as cycling combined with weight-lifting machines training, was beneficial in a decrease in whole-body and localized fat mass, and increase in the amount of body lean mass among older populations. Combined exercise was also shown to be more effective in increasing lower extremity strength and VO 2 peak compared with aerobic or resistance ones solely.