ABSTRACT
This chapter describes major categories of drugs and their potential interactions with exercise. A variety of medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, may have effects upon a woman’s exercise capacity, physical responses during exercise testing or training, or the safety and efficacy of the exercise prescription itself. The most important property in relation to exercise is the ability of beta-bloclers to attenuate the normal postural, exercise- or stress-induced increase in heart rate. Exercise may be related to nutritional status in older women in a number of ways that influence the capacity to exercise, the treatment of disease, and the specifics of the exercise prescription and the nutritional requirements in the population. One of the important nutritional considerations with exercise is the ability to modulate body composition, or the ratio of lean to fat tissue with new or increased levels of training. Diabetics can participate in all modalities of exercise. Both resistive and aerobic exercises offer benefit in terms of insulin sensitivity.
