Looking for the fountain of youth? Look no further than the gym. According to a new study, high-intensity interval training or HIIT may be the key to reversing the ageing process.
The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, suggests that short bursts of intense exercise combined with more moderate exercise can encourage cells to make more proteins and can do great things for your body in terms of reversing age-related cell changes.
Scientists from the Mayo Clinic recruited an equal number of women and men to participate in the study, and split them up into two groups: young (18-30 years) and older (65-80 years). The participants were then divided into three groups partaking in different exercises for a 12-week period.
One group participated in HIIT training, involving three days of cycling (high intensity bursts fused with slower-paced intervals) and two days of treadmill walking each week. The second group focused on resistance training that consisted of two days a week of lower – and upper-body exercises, while the last group did a combination of the two – cycling less strenuously and lifting fewer weights than the second, for a total of five days of exercise a week.
At the end of the 12-week period, participants in each of the groups had improved overall fitness. However, those participating in high-intensity interval training saw the most benefits.
The younger HIIT participants had their mitochondrial capacity – which helps the body create energy – increase by 49%, while older volunteers saw a 69% increase.
The overall HIIT group also saw their insulin sensitivity improve, meaning a potentially lower diabetes risk, and an increase in ribosome activity (which helps build proteins that create muscle cells).
In an interview with CNN, Senior study author Dr Sreekumaran Nair, of the Mayo Clinic explained, “Exercise training, especially high-intensity interval training, enhanced the machinery (ribosomes) to produce proteins, increased the production of proteins and enhanced protein abundance in muscle.”
He added that the findings may help scientists “develop targeted drugs to achieve some of the benefits that we derive from the exercise in people who cannot exercise.” So, stay tuned!
