Weight training aids elderly women.

Thirty subjects ranging in age from 67 to 84 recently participated in a University of Toledo and Toledo Hospital study on the effects of weight training on elderly women. "This study [had] two primary objectives - to examine the effects of weight training on functional capacity, for example, balance and walking gait, and to determine whether high-intensity exercise like weight training suppresses the immune system," explains Michael G. Flynn, associate professor of health promotion and human performance.

For the 10-week research project, 15 subjects were placed in a non-exercise group as a control while the other 15 worked out three times a week. Those in the exercise group warmed up with a five-minute stint on either the treadmill or the stationary bike and then stretching exercises, followed by two or three sets of eight different leg and hip exercises.

Some of the women who worked out showed 200% increases in strength during the study, depending on the exercise. For instance, after six weeks of training, they were able to lift 75 pounds during leg...