COMBINED EXERCISE TRAINING PROGRAM LEADS TO DIFFERENT EFFECTS ON POWER, MUSCULAR ENDURANCE AND BALANCE OF INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Abstract

People with intellectual disabilities have a reduced level of physical fitness. Institutionalization may be one of the important factors associated with their lower level of physical activity. Implementing a training intervention for institutionalized adults with intellectual disabilities requires an innovative and individually tailored approach that may differ from the approach for the general population. This study aims to determine the effects of a newly designed exercise training programme, consisting of neuromuscular exercises and outdoor walking training, on muscular endurance, power, and balance of institutionalized adults with intellectual disabilities. The participants were 90 institutionalized adults (43.9 ± 9.0 years), with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, randomly assigned into a control (n=45) or an experimental group (n=45). The experimental group participated in the experimental training programme for 12 weeks (60 training sessions). In the experimental group, participants’ muscular endurance (p=.01) and power (p=.04) were significantly improved without major changes in balance. The latter was probably due to a small amount of specific postural exercises in the applied combined exercise programme. Future research should focus on finding an appropriate volume of postural control exercises to stimulate balance improvement in this specific population.

Key words: cognitive impairment, physical fitness, neuromuscular training, walking, postural control