Confidence-building strategies increased confidence, but not strength
In older adults with overweight or obesity in Thailand, both groups improved on physical tests. Confidence increased more with the strategies.
The key idea
Physical tests improved with and without the strategies, with no convincing advantage for them. Confidence in one's ability increased more with the added support.
The study, in plain language
Both groups did the same strength training. The difference was adding strategies during sessions to strengthen confidence in one's ability. The trial lasted 12 weeks at a community center in Thailand and included 38 older adults with overweight or obesity. The analysis included 34.
Both groups improved in strength, balance, endurance, and mobility. Adding the strategies showed no convincing advantage on these tests or body composition. Confidence increased more with the integrated support; the clearest added difference was in how participants viewed their own ability. In an additional analysis that was not planned in advance, resting heart rate rose less with the strategies, but this finding should be treated cautiously.
What they found
- Both groups did the same strength training and improved on physical tests.
- Adding confidence-building strategies showed no convincing advantage in physical capacity or body composition.
- Confidence in one's ability increased in both groups, and more in the group that received the integrated strategies.
Something to think about
When you exercise or learn something, how confident are you that you can do it, and how much does that change what you actually achieve? Here, confidence increased more with support, while physical tests improved in both groups.
How they studied it
Thirty-eight adults aged 60 to 75 with overweight or obesity at a community center in Thailand were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of strength training with or without confidence-building strategies. The analysis included 34 participants. This was a small study of volunteers from one community center.
What the study cannot show
- The sample was small, recruited voluntarily in one community setting, and mostly women. There was no no-exercise or attention-matched control. Body composition was measured by bioimpedance, which is less precise than DXA. Metabolic and heart-rate outcomes were exploratory.
- The study does not show that adding confidence-building strategies improves body composition or physical capacity more than training alone. It does not establish lasting effects or allow generalization to older adults with high baseline confidence or exercise contraindications.
The original study
Effects of integrating self-efficacy strategies into multi-joint resistance exercise for overweight and obese older adults: A randomized controlled trial
Source under CC BY 4.0. English adaptation and explanation by PaperFlow, with AI assistance. The text has been reorganized for a general audience; it is not the complete paper and does not imply endorsement by its authors.
One study alone does not represent a field's consensus. Educational content does not replace professional advice. Report a possible error.
