Strength Training in Elderly Women

Explosive-type heavy-resistance training in old (60-65 years) and very old (80-89 years) women not living in a nursing home environment for 12 weeks resulted in an increase in muscle strength and a decrease in falls. Often the very old are discouraged from lifting heavy weights or doing explosive moves with heavy weights. While these people were supervised during their training, it does show that the elderly are able to do more demanding strength training. Obviously each individual must be evaluated and progressed as they are able to do the exercise. I have found, however, that older people often think they can't do activities, which it turns out they are able to do.

Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18248533/