Handkrafttraining schützt vor Stürzen (English shop)

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When lack of exercise gradually begins to limit above all the physical performance capacity of an ever-increasing number of older people, including in everyday life, sufficient physical activity becomes indispensable for maintaining health and quality of life (activities of daily living). Since manual abilities presuppose sufficient handgrip strength in all activities of daily living, and since reduced handgrip strength is regarded as an indicator of generally reduced muscle strength in older people and therefore correlates strongly with a markedly increased risk of falls and fractures, associated with reduced capacity for self-care and increased mortality, this study, which can be assigned to the fields of gerontology and geriatrics, sport science and sports medicine, seeks to demonstrate that it is also worthwhile for older people who have not been (athletically) active to date to allow themselves to be motivated to take up a (sporting) form of movement or physical activity and to integrate physical activities into their everyday lives as a fixed, indispensable component, in order to preserve their everyday competences and their participation in sufficient social contacts by maintaining health. A handgrip strength training programme conducted over 12 months, completed by 19 men aged 65–69 with heart disease, resulted in a significant improvement in handgrip strength. In this way, the parabolically decreasing loss of strength over the course of ageing can at least be delayed.

The participants’ positive impressions of their training success suggest that they feel somewhat more confident than before and therefore believe they are better able to protect themselves against falls (fall prevention).