Physical activity promotion in the health care system.

Physical activity (PA) and exercise training (ET) have great potential in the prevention, management, and rehabilitation of a variety of diseases, but this potential has not been fully realized in clinical practice. The health care system (HCS) could do much more to support patients in increasing their PA and ET. However, counseling on ET is not used widely by the HCS owing partly to attitudes but mainly to practical obstacles.

Effect of brisk walking in 1 or 2 daily bouts and moderate resistance training on lower-extremity muscle strength, balance, and walking performance in women who recently went through menopause: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background And Purpose: Menopause may induce a phase of rapid decreases in bone mineral density, aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and balance, especially in sedentary women. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects and feasibility of an exercise program of 1 or 2 bouts of walking and resistance training on lower-extremity muscle strength (the force-generating capacity of muscle), balance, and walking performance in women who recently went through menopause.

Subjects And Methods: The subjects were 134 women who recently went through menopause.

Associations of leisure-time physical activity with mobility difficulties among middle-aged and older adults.

The authors investigated the associations of the amount, frequency and intensity, and type of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) with the risk of self-reported difficulty in walking (WD) and stair climbing (SCD) over 16 years in a population-based cohort age 40-64 years at the onset of the study. Their results indicated that the risk for SCD was highest among men and women with a low amount of weekly LTPA. The risk was high also among women with weekly light LTPA compared with women with weekly vigorous LTPA.

A health-related fitness and functional performance test battery for middle-aged and older adults: feasibility and health-related content validity.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and health-related content validity of 6 health-related fitness (HRF) and 3 functional performance (FP) tests among middle-aged and older persons.

Design: Cross-sectional methodologic study.

Setting: Field laboratories in 3 communities of northeast Finland.