Table 2.
Effects of exercise on health outcomes in humans with different conditions.
| Reference | Design | Participant condition | No. of participants | Age (year; mean ± SD) | Intervention | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | RCT | Woman living in a nursing home support center; capacity to practice exercise without causing harm to themselves with approval of the medical department | 25 (C =12; I =13) | C = 82.0 ± 7.5; I = 83.5 ± 7.3 | 14 weeks of combined resistance (e.g., front squat, bench over row, standing reverse fly, etc.) and aerobic exercise training (e.g., stimulated walking, hip marching, standing rear leg extension, etc.) twice a week | Maintained concentrations of peripheral markers for BBB integrity and improved cytokine balance |
| 77 | RCT | Patients with moderate-to-severe COPD | 30 (C = 15; I = 15) | >40a | 30 min of respiratory muscle-stretching exercise (intervention group) or upper and lower limb muscle-stretching (control group), followed by 30 min of aerobic training (treadmill running), twice a week for 12 weeks | Aerobic training combined with respiratory muscle-stretching increases the functional exercise capacity with decreased dyspnea in patients with COPD |
| 89 | RCT | Healthy young adults | 16 | 24 ± 5 | A 30-min CE and a 60-min IE (1-min work and 1-min rest) at 70% of their maximum work rate on separate occasions in a random order | The 30-min CE caused mild airway damage, while a time- or work-matched IE did not |
| 97 | RCT | Patients with venous leg ulcers | 59 (C = 30; I = 29) | 71.5 ± 14.6 | 12 weeks of home-based progressive resistance exercise | A trend toward healing at a faster rate and better functional outcomes |
| 98 | RCT | Healthy adults | 28 (C = 15; I = 13) | 61.0 ± 5.5 | 1 h exercise per day (start with 10 min of warm-up floor exercises and stretching, followed by 30 min cycling, 15 min of brisk walking and/or jogging and arm-strengthening exercise, 5 min of cool-down exercise), 3 days per week for 3 months | Enhance rates of wound healing |
| 132 | RCT | Healthy adults | 144 (Cardio = 74; Flex = 70) | 69.9 ± 0.4 | 10-month cardio intervention (began at 45%–55% of VO2max and progressed to 60%–70% of VO2max within 3 months, 3 days/week, the duration of each session increased from 10–15 min to approximately 45–60 min by the 4th month) was compared to Flex intervention (2 days/week for approximately 75 min/session) | Cardio intervention resulted in a longer-lasting seroprotective response to influenza vaccination |
a The data are not mean ± SD.
Abbreviations: BBB = blood–brain barrier; C = control; Cardio = cardiovascular exercise group; CE = continuous exercise; COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Flex = flexibility and balance group; I = intervention; IE = intermittent exercise; RCT = randomized controlled trial; VO2max = maximal oxygen uptake.