Mixed
For healthy older men (65-74 years), a combined training protocol consisting of once-weekly resistance and once-weekly endurance exercise yields similar gains in leg muscle mass, leg maximal strength, and cardiovascular fitness (Wmax) as twice-weekly resistance or endurance training alone.
If you are an older man looking to stay strong and healthy, you do not need to spend hours in the gym every week. Combining one day of heavy resistance training with one day of moderate-to-vigorous cycling (just two days total per week) can build muscle and heart health just as effectively as doing more frequent single-type training. This approach is highly practical and may be easier to stick with long-term.
Prolonged combined resistance and endurance training in older men seemed to lead to similar gains in muscle mass, maximal strength, and power of the legs as resistance training alone and to similar gains in maximal peak power output measured in an incremental cycling test as endurance training alone.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with clear outcomes, though sample size is modest (N=31) and duration is 16 weeks.
Source
Once Weekly Combined Resistance and Cardiovascular Training in Healthy Older Men
Míkel Izquierdo et al. · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2004
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