Low-Intensity Exercise Boosts Fitness and Metabolic Markers in Women Over 85

A randomized controlled trial published in the European Review of Aging and Physical Activity reports that 24 weeks of low-intensity training improved functional fitness and several metabolic biomarkers in women aged 85 years and older, a population the authors note is rarely represented in exercise research despite facing high risks of functional decline and metabolic dysregulation.

The trial assigned participants to three groups: a control group, an aerobic exercise group, and a resistance exercise group. Both exercise groups completed 24 weeks of low-intensity training. Functional performance was assessed with handgrip strength, a 30-second chair-stand test, a 30-second arm curl test, and a 2-minute step test. Biological outcomes included adiponectin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), fasting insulin, fasting glucose, and the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). The researchers evaluated intervention effects using mixed-effects repeated-measures analyses that included group, time, and group-by-time interaction terms.

The results showed a significant group-by-time interaction for handgrip strength, with a significant increase observed only in the resistance exercise group. Both exercise groups improved significantly relative to the control group on the 30-second chair-stand, the 30-second arm curl, and the 2-minute step performance, indicating gains across lower-body strength, upper-body endurance, and aerobic endurance measures.

Metabolic biomarkers also shifted in favorable directions. Adiponectin increased significantly in both exercise groups, with the largest increase seen in the resistance training group. Fasting insulin and fasting glucose were significantly lower in both the aerobic and resistance exercise groups than in the control group at 24 weeks. In contrast, hs-CRP and HOMA-IR did not show significant intervention effects, meaning the inflammatory and insulin-resistance markers measured did not change in ways attributable to the training programs.

The authors are explicit about how these findings should be interpreted. They state that the functional and biomarker outcomes should be read as parallel responses to the intervention rather than as evidence of a direct relationship between functional improvements and biomarker changes. In other words, the trial demonstrates that both domains responded to training, but it does not establish that the biomarker changes caused the fitness gains or vice versa.

The study fills a notable gap in the exercise science literature. According to the paper’s background, few studies have examined exercise interventions specifically in oldest-old women, defined as women aged 85 years and older, even though this group carries a high risk of losing physical function and experiencing metabolic dysregulation.

The trial’s design carries the strengths and limits of a randomized controlled trial in this age group. Random assignment to control, aerobic, or resistance conditions allows intervention effects to be separated from background changes over time, and the mixed-effects repeated-measures framework formally tests whether the trajectories of the exercise groups diverged from the control group. However, the abstract reports outcomes at the group level over 24 weeks and does not describe longer-term follow-up, adherence details, or the clinical significance of the biomarker changes, so conclusions should be limited to what was measured.

Overall, the authors conclude that low-intensity aerobic and resistance training improved multiple domains of functional fitness in oldest-old women, alongside favorable changes in adiponectin, fasting insulin, and glucose. They suggest that low-intensity exercise may represent a feasible strategy for supporting functional capacity in women of very advanced age, a finding of interest given how seldom this population has been studied in exercise intervention research.

Subject of Research: Effects of low-intensity aerobic and resistance training on physical function and metabolic biomarkers in women aged 85 and older

Article Title: Effects of low-intensity aerobic and resistance training on physical function, adiponectin, and metabolic health in oldest-old women: a randomized controlled trial

Article References: Chun, S.-W., Kim, E. J., & An, N.-Y. (2026). Effects of low-intensity aerobic and resistance training on physical function, adiponectin, and metabolic health in oldest-old women: a randomized controlled trial. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11556-026-00435-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s11556-026-00435-9

Keywords: randomized controlled trial, oldest-old women, resistance training, aerobic exercise, functional fitness, adiponectin, fasting insulin, glucose, HOMA-IR, hs-CRP, handgrip strength, aging