Findings show the Stay Strong, Stay Healthy eight-week resistance training program helps older adults maintain long-term exercise habits and increase their self-confidence. Sticking with an exercise program can be tough, even during the best of times. But what about during a pandemic? A new study by the University of Missouri and Oklahoma State University found that even when gyms were closed and there were other COVID-19 restrictions limiting face-to-face meetings, older adults who completed the Stay Strong, Stay Healthy exercise program — created at MU in 2005 — continued to maintain long-term exercise habits independently, which resulted in improved lifestyle changes and an increase in both physical energy and self-confidence. “We sent the surveys three months, six months, nine months and 12 months after their first Stay Strong, Stay Healthy class,” said Kristin Miller, an assistant extension professor in the MU School of Health Professions. “We were hoping that they would…