High intensity interval training (HIIT) sports can reverse the process of weakening the body in old age, according to a preclinical study conducted in the United States.
Research in the preclinical phase has shown that short periods of high-intensity physical activity can be recommended for the elderly, this type of exercise also has the potential to reverse the process of weakening the body in old age.
Published in “The Journals of Gerontology: A Series” by a team of scientists at the University of Buffalo, the study is the first to aim to find out whether a short-term, high-intensity training program, known as The name HIIT can be safe and effective for the elderly.
The research was performed on two groups of a dozen mice, each 24 months old, which corresponds to about 65 years of a person’s life. All mice had been sedentary up to this age.
The scientists point out that the study has so far only been performed on mice, but the results could have significant application in humans.
“Being known to be fragile or have a high tendency to weaken carries a higher risk of death or comorbidity,” said Bruce R. Troen, co-author of the study with Kenneth L. Seldeen, its lead author.
“These results show that it is possible that high-intensity training can help improve your quality of life and your ability to be healthy,” Troen added.
The mice studied showed “dramatic” improvements in several parameters, including strength and physical performance. Five of the six mice that were fragile or in a pre-fragility state improved their condition, and four showed no signs of fragility.
“Those four mice that had the kind of deficits that can be correlated with human fragility recovered and became completely robust,” Troen explained.
“In their case, HIIT has really reversed the fragility.”
Troen and Seldeen customized the training program of each specimen, arguing that “although mice are genetically identical, they are not identical in phenotype.”
The ten-minute program consisted of a three-minute warm-up, three one-minute intervals of high-intensity exercise followed by one-minute low-intensity exercise, and one final minute of high-intensity running on a sloping treadmill. The workouts were performed three times a week for 16 weeks. All exercises were tolerated by all mice.
But Troen and Seldeen warned that any person interested in practicing HIIT should first seek the advice of a physician.
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