COVID-19 and Social Isolation: A Case for Why Home-Based Resistance Training Is Needed to Maintain Musculoskeletal and Psychosocial Health for Older Adults

Pablo Jorge Marcos-Pardo, Alejandro Espeso-García, Abraham López-Vivancos, Tomás Abelleira Lamela, Justin W L Keogh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)
284 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The coronavirus disease outbreak in China has become the world's leading health headline and is causing major panic and public concerns. Public health guidelines in many countries are suggesting that people stay at home to avoid human-to-human transmission of the virus, which may lead to reduced physical activity and greater feelings of isolation. Such effects may be particularly problematic in older adults due to their reduced physical capacities and their potential for increased mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. A potential way to minimize many of these side effects of stay-at-home guidelines may be progressive home-based resistance training. A simple way to provide progressive overload in home-based resistance training may involve elastic resistance, which has been demonstrated to provide similar benefits to traditional resistance training equipment typically found in gymnasiums. Recommendations on how older adults can safely and effectively perform elastic resistance training at home are provided.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)353-359
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Aging and Physical Activity
Volume29
Issue number2
Early online date14 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2021

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