Hormones and Weight-Training in Elderly Males

The various pathophysiologic processes associated with normal aging were once considered both inevitable and irreversible. More recently, research has shown that declines in lean body mass, bone mineral density, and muscle strength may be associated with related decreases in certain steroidal hormones. Hence, many believe that testosterone and growth hormone replacement therapy, in conjunction with weight-training, may delay or even reverse age-related atrophic changes. However, while exercise does confer many health benefits upon the elderly, the advantages of hormone administration remain in doubt.

Normal senescence is characterized by alterations in numerous physiologic processes. These changes include such varied aspects as body composition, muscle strength, and endocrine balance. For example, older people often experience decreases in bone and muscle mass, with concomitant increases in adiposity (18:1361). Over the course of an adult life, muscle strength may diminish by some 30 to 40 percent (5:3033). Muscle strength generally increases up to age 30. Between the ages of 30 and 50 years though, it will plateau. Beyond age 50, the muscle strength of most persons declines (1:1725). This decline becomes most significant at the onset of the sixth decade (7:211-212).

These different physical processes have been associated with various hormonal phenome

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related LBM declines have performed comparisons of both active and sedentary individuals to determine the effects of physical reconditioning. These studies have concluded that disuse atrophy accounts for up to about 25 percent of the LBM losses experienced by 70-year-old men (14:73-74). Perhaps the most important of these losses involve bones. Bone structure and function are highly dependent on applied mechanical stresses. Sedentary lifestyles generally minimize bone stress. Therefore, inactivity may increase the risk for osteoporosis (16:1227). Consequently, researchers have concluded that exercise may have a number of beneficial effects for older persons. For one, physical endeavors might help the elderly maintain their bone mass. In addition, such activities as weight-lifting are thought to increase older persons' muscle strength. Unfortunately, relatively little research has been performed on weight-training and the elderly (4:314-319). One such study, however, did make some positive observations. Fiatarone et al. (1990) demonstrated that high-intensity weight-training programs can dramatically increase muscle strength in frail men and women up to 96 years of age (5:3032). Moreover, both Moritani & DeVries (
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