The Effect of Increasing Exercise in the Intellectually Disabled Community

Background: Intellectually disabled individuals have been observed to lead sedentary lifestyles resulting in poor health. Physical fitness has been positively correlated to better health outcomes with small changes in fitness translating to major health changes among unfit older adults with intellectual disability. However, there is currently no literature on safe exercise regimens for the intellectually disabled population. Methods: In this article, a retrospective review was conducted using the Special Olympics Athlete database and analyzed the mean differences of various performance metrics based on self-reported exercise frequency. Results: These results demonstrated that those who exercised daily performed significantly better in flexibility, static balance and functional strength as compared to those who did not exercise. No statistically significant differences were found among athletes and self-reported exercise frequency for aerobic fitness. Conclusion: Overall, these findings suggest that 3-6 days-a-week of moderate exercise would be a recommended exercise dose to see significant improvement in performance and physiological adaptations.