Journal of

Introduction and purpose: Aging is an inevitable process accompanied with a reduction in ability to perform daily living activities and a sedentary lifestyle. The purpose of this study was to compare different methods of concurrent training on physical performance and components of body composition among inactive elderly women.

Materials and Methods: Forty volunteers and inactive elderly women participated in this quasi-experimental study. Participants were randomly assigned into 4 groups including resistance- endurance training (n = 10), endurance- resistance training (n = 9), interval training (n = 12) and controls (n = 9). The experimental groups participated in a 6-week exercise program consisting of 3 sessions per week. One-way ANOVA and t-test were conducted to determine significant changes within and between groups, respectively.

Findings: The results indicated no significant changes between experimental groups after 8 weeks in the body fat (p = 0.08), waist hip ratio (p = 0.55), upper body strength (p = 0.07), systolic (p = 0.28) and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.15). However, a significant reduction was observed in weight (p = 0.02), waist circumference (p = 0.01), hip circumference (p = 0.017), body mass index (p = 0.03), Vo2max (p = 0.03) and lower body strength (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: According to results from this study it can be concluded that elderly women may benefit from advantages of concurrent training accordingly.