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The coronavirus disease outbreak in China has become the world’s leading health headline and is causing major panic and public concerns. Public health guidelines in many countries are suggesting that people stay at home to avoid human-to-human transmission of the virus, which may lead to reduced physical activity and greater feelings of isolation. Such effects may be particularly problematic in older adults due to their reduced physical capacities and their potential for increased mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. A potential way to minimize many of these side effects of stay-at-home guidelines may be progressive home-based resistance training. A simple way to provide progressive overload in home-based resistance training may involve elastic resistance, which has been demonstrated to provide similar benefits to traditional resistance training equipment typically found in gymnasiums. Recommendations on how older adults can safely and effectively perform elastic resistance training at home are provided.
Marcos-Pardo, Espeso-García, López-Vivancos, and Abelleira Lamela are with the Faculty of Sport, San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; and the Research Group on Health, Physical Activity, Fitness and Motor Behaviour (GISAFFCOM), San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Marcos-Pardo is also with Active Aging, Exercise and Health/HEALTHY-AGE Network, Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), Ministry of Culture and Sport, Madrid, Spain. Keogh is with the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; the Human Potential Centre, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand; the Cluster for Health Improvement, Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia; the Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India; and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.