Daily exercise habits and physical fitness in older adults participating in exercise, disaster prevention learning, or combined classes

Abstract

Many older adults who participate in exercise classes for health promotion already possess higher levels of daily physical activity and physical fitness. Integrating health promotion with non-health-related activities may be a more effective strategy for engaging individuals with lower levels of daily physical activity and physical fitness. To test this hypothesis, the present study implemented exercise (EX), disaster prevention learning (DP), and combined (EX×DP) classes. Community-dwelling individuals aged 61–87 years participated in the EX (n = 21), DP (n = 15), or EX×DP (n = 31) classes. Performance on the 10-time sit-to-stand test was lower in the EX×DP group compared to the EX group. The 5m walk at the fastest pace was faster in the EX group than in the DP group; however, no significant difference was observed between the DP and EX×DP groups. Although no significant differences were observed between the EX and EX×DP groups in habitual exercise time for walking, muscular-strength exercise, or cycling, the EX×DP group reported less time spent on other forms of exercise, such as yoga and table tennis. Additionally, self-efficacy for, and perceived health benefits of, the strength exercise were lower in the EX×DP group compared to the EX group. Habitual exercise time increased in both the EX and EX×DP groups during the six weeks following the classes relative to baseline. Notably, improvements in the 10-time sit-to-stand test were observed only in the EX×DP group. These findings suggest that integrating health promotion with non-health-related activities is a more effective strategy for engaging older adults with lower levels of physical fitness compared to the exercise-only activity.