Periods of physical inactivity are very often in our lives and presents high danger to our health
especially in aging population. Within the scope of this work package of PANGEA project (Physical activity
and nutrition for great aging) several questions were addressed: (i) what functional and cognitive decline is
reached after 14-day of bed rest; (ii) is there difference between younger and older group of male participants;
(iii) how nutrition and cognitive training counteracts those declines; (iv) is it reversible during 28-day of
guided rehabilitation? We found functional and cognitive decline in both groups but higher in older group.
Both interactions show benefits on selected functional parameters (e.g. gait, anabolism) but needs further
investigation. Not all the parameters were reversed after 28-day of recovery, especially in older group. Bed rest
is a suitable longitudinal approach to study functional and cognitive decline after period of physical inactivity
and could be used in controlled settings to demonstrate pathways of the impact of physical inactivity and
activity on our health.
