The effect of a Frankel training course on the coordination and balance of older men

Coordination and balance is an indicator to determine the degree of independence of the elderly in performing daily activities.

In this quasi-experimental study, with a pre-test-post-test design, 30 elderly men referred to Arak nursing home with a mean age (68.03 ± 6.05 years), weight (62.20 ± 9.50 kg) height (163.77 ± 6.93 cm) was available as a sample and randomly divided into experimental and control groups of 15 people. The training group practiced in Frankel training program for 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week for 30 minutes. Pre-test was performed before training and post-test after 8 weeks of training and the results of both groups were compared. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to ensure the normality of the data and paired t-test and independent t-test were used to analyze the findings within the group and between groups, respectively. Significance level was considered less than 0.05

The results of the present study showed that 8 weeks of Frankel training had a significant effect on coordination, static, dynamic balance and functional dynamic balance in the post-test compared to the pre-test of the experimental group (P = 0.001). Frankel exercises had a significant effect on coordination (p = 0.042), static balance (P = 0.02), dynamic balance (P = 0.04) and dynamic functional balance (p = 0.001) in the post-test of the experimental group compared to the control group.

It seems that doing Frankel exercises can be suggested as a good training method to improve coordination, static and dynamic balance and improve dynamic functional balance in older men. Therefore, the results of this study introduce a new method for rehabilitation of the elderly.