Healthy Aging Through Optimized Exercise

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · Jul 22, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial, called "Healthy Aging Through Optimized Exercise," is studying why older adults respond differently to exercise and how understanding these differences can help create personalized exercise plans to keep people healthier as they age. The goal is to learn more about what affects how well exercise works for each person, so that exercise programs can be better tailored to individual needs.

To take part, you need to be 60 years or older, currently get less than two hours of moderate exercise per week, and have some difficulty in physical abilities or health areas that affect daily life. You’ll also need to pass a health check and an exercise test reviewed by a heart specialist to make sure it’s safe for you to participate. People with serious health problems, like advanced heart disease, kidney problems, or dementia, would not be eligible. If you join, you can expect to take part in exercise activities and tests designed to understand your unique response to exercise, helping researchers figure out how to best support healthy aging through personalized exercise plans.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Written informed consent prior to any study procedure
• • 60+ years of age
• • \<120 min/wk of self-reported moderate physical activity as assessed by Community Health Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) physical activity questionnaire13
• • Evidence of impairment in one or more Intrinsic Capacity domains (see section 3.2)
• • Passage of a physical exam and diagnostic, graded exercise test with 12-lead ECG reviewed by a cardiologist or otherwise credentialed clinician.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • End-stage disease and/or a life expectancy less than one year
• • Resistant hypertension, defined as BP \> 140/90, despite the use of three or more anti-hypertensive drugs
• • Chronic kidney disease
• • Serum creatinine \>2.5 mg/dL in men or \>2.0 mg/dL in women
• • Serum potassium \>5.0 mEq/L
• • Urinary protein \> 1 on dipstick
• • Abnormal liver enzymes (AST, ALT, or alkaline phosphatase \> 2.5 times the upper limit of normal)
• • Severe cardiac disease, including NYHA Class III or IV congestive heart failure, clinically significant aortic stenosis, history of cardiac arrest, use of a cardiac defibrillator, or uncontrolled angina
• • Acute myocardial infarction identified by ECG
• • Current treatment for malignancy
• • Known diagnosis of dementia
• • Any other disease or condition that would preclude completion of all testing and exercise training
• • Any other condition that would interfere with testing or increase risk of complications during exercise
• • Any other condition or events considered exclusionary by the PIs and/or study clinicians.