Effectiveness of Different Intensities of Acute Resistance Exercise on Working Memory of the Elderly

The working memory and related tasks are controlled by the prefrontal cortex, the cortex and the cerebral cortex, which functions decrease in the natural process of aging. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of acute resistance exercise with mild to moderate intensity on working memory of the elderly. 40 elderly people were selected using purposive sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The working memory for the experimental group was evaluated by Sternberg Task in three stages of before strength exercise, 15 minutes of strength exercise, and 180 minutes after the strength exercise program with mild (% 40-RM10) and moderate (70%-RM10) intensity. The results show that the acute resistance exercise (mild and moderate intensity) have a significant effect on the response time and the accuracy of the Sternberg Task in the elderly. In addition, the results show that gender and exercise intensity has no significant effect on the effectiveness of resistance training (moderate and mild intensity) on work memory, while conducting Sternberg Task after resistance exercise has a significant effect on the test results. Therefore, moderate and mild intensity of acute resistance exercise can improve the working memory of elderly men and women. The findings of this study indicate the necessity of using acute resistance exercise to improve the working memory of elderly men and women. The use of this method is suggested as an effective intervention for these individuals.