Physical exercise can have a positive impact on a the functional status of an older person. As a person ages they may avoid heavy lifting which may lead to a functional decline. Physical exercise may help maintain functional status, ISSA states that in a study ten frail old men an d women as old as 96 participated in a supervised workout program involving weights, within 2 months strength in thigh muscle increased by an average of 174 percent and muscle mass increased by 9 percent. As the text from ISSA Senior Fitness states, Dr. Miriam nelson from Tufts University states that muscles have the ability to grow and get stronger from birth until the end of life. Fifteen minutes a day two times a week of exercise will help a person maintain 94 percent of muscle mass until old age.