Originally Posted by
hhnngg1
Still, a major point of their article was their finding that a small but significant percentage of people didn't improve and actually got WORSE.
Actually, the "major point" of that particular study was that people do not have a consistent and uniform response to the same exercise regime, in part due to genetics and in part due to other factors.
Originally Posted by hhnngg1
I have never heard of a nondisabled nonelderly person who went from couch to exercising regularly (and not just going through the motions) yet get worse at the trained measure of fitness.
Sorry, but anecdotes and "common sense" have basically no scientific merit.
The study in question tested one particular program, designed to work on both resistance and aerobic capacity, on 175 sedentary test subjects between the ages of 40 and 67. I agree that a loss of VO2max and/or MVC is a bit surprising, but that's why we do studies.
And I expect you'd see similar things if the study was repeated, or in similar studies.
Originally Posted by hhnngg1
If you work up from couch to biking 5x/week in 12-14weeks, you absolutely will be better than when you were on the couch in terms of riding.
Unless you have an undiagnosed medical condition, or a bad diet, or use the new exercise regime to eat crappy foods, or the exercise program could be too strenuous for that individual, or get injured, and so forth. If you've got a pool of 175 people, there's lots of things that could go wrong.
I for one have no doubt that exercise is beneficial for almost everyone. That doesn't mean that it is categorically true that every single middle-aged sedentary person who starts an exercise program will benefit.