Clinical trial · Exercise · 22 Oct 2026
In 97 adults with walking difficulty, mean age 74, four minutes of daily strength work improved chair stands and balance
Source: PLOS One
What the research found
Study (randomized trial). Smita Dandekar, Christopher Sciamanna, and colleagues report in PLOS One (2026; 21(3): e0336748; DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0336748), published 12 March 2026. ScienceDaily carried it on 21 Oct 2026. Ninety-seven inactive adults age 65 and older who already had trouble walking were randomized to a 12-week home program or a delayed-treatment control. FAST-2 was four exercises of 30 seconds each — push-ups, chair stands, band rows, and stair stepping — with 30 seconds of rest. People on the program completed it on 81 percent of days. Forty-four were assigned to the program and 53 to control. Mean age was 74, and 68 percent were women. Versus control, the program group added 4.2 chair stands in 30 seconds (95 percent CI 2.8 to 5.7), held a one-leg stance 3.6 seconds longer (0.6 to 6.5), and finished five sit-to-stands 2.3 seconds faster (0.5 to 4.1). The trial ran from May 2021 to January 2022. It did not count falls. Sciamanna disclosed part-ownership of two companies formed to test business models for exercise findings. The sex mix is why the audience tag stays broad. Not medical advice.
Evidence level: Clinical trial. This is among the stronger kinds of evidence, but one study rarely settles a question.
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