Whether you enjoy long lifting programs or lean into lengthy cardio sessions, a new study has suggested that incorporating or switching to short cycling sprints could accelerate your health.
Here’s why.
Scientists at Rockefeller University have figured out that the effects of cycle sprinting far outweighed lengthier, moderate sessions when it comes to improving the blood markers associated with many health conditions. Apparently just six, 30-second sprints, totaling 3 minutes of intense activity was all it took to outperform other programs like 30 minutes of moderate cycling.
During the eight-week training program, participants performed three to four sprint sessions per week. “What’s exciting here is that just a few minutes of intense exercise can trigger a significant molecular response,” says Paul Cohen, who helped put the study together. “And we still see it after eight weeks of training, which tells us this response isn’t simply a product of the body struggling to keep up with unfamiliar stress. It may be that the responses we observed are intrinsic to intense exercise.”
To put their results into perspective, the researchers found that these intense sprints changed almost 25% of the proteins measured in the blood immediately following the session, whereas 90-minutes of moderate cycling was noticeable in less than 0.25%. Long, moderate runs were also no match for short sprints.
Why Does Exercise Intensity Beat Duration for Fat Loss and Longevity?
Those who undertook the three-minute cycle sprint program, with a four-minute rest between each 30 second burst, saw changes in over 200 metabolites and received a supercharged response in the proteins that aid blood vessel growth, tissue repair, and hormonal signaling. Fat cells also responded dramatically, becoming more efficient at processing fuel. While the four minute rest periods do extend the session, it still takes just 23 minutes to complete, and it is likely that reducing the intervals would not negate the benefits, since the intensity would be increased.
Of the 33 proteins tested that are associated with type 2 diabetes and a raft of other metabolic disorders, a whopping 32 were changed by the cycle sprinting, in comparison with just three affected by moderate exercise sessions. It is understandable then, that the experts believe exercise intensity, rather than duration, appears to be the major factor for influencing proteins and metabolites, prompting a more powerful response by the body.
“It’s well appreciated that different intensities of exercise stimulate distinct body-wide adaptations,” said Luke Olsen, who administered the studies. “However, the molecular mechanisms linking these intensity-dependent adaptations have remained largely elusive. Our work suggests that exerkines (signaling) proteins and metabolites released into the bloodstream following exercise-are highly sensitive to exercise intensity and may be the key mediators of the health-promoting effects of short bursts of vigorous exercise.”
This is not to say that moderate lifting or longer endurance-based sessions need to be tossed aside, because differing benefits can be drawn from different disciplines, but for those who are working specifically towards weight loss or improving their response to conditions such as type 2 diabetes, it may well be worth adding some cycle sprinting or other intense activity to your regime.
