Most of us know we should exercise more. But which kind of exercise actually does the most good as we get older? A new study has a pretty clear answer and the good news is you do not need hours at the gym to benefit.
Researcher Dr. Grace Rose and colleagues ran a six-month randomized controlled trial with 123 healthy adults. Their average age was 72 years. The study compared three types of exercise to see which worked best for body composition.
What the Study Compared
Every participant completed three supervised 45-minute treadmill sessions each week for six months. Exercise intensity was set individually based on each person’s heart rate. The three groups were:
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
- Moderate-intensity exercise
- Low-intensity exercise
All three approaches produced some fat loss. But there was one clear winner when it came to protecting muscle at the same time.
Why HIIT Stood Out
High-intensity interval training — short bursts of harder effort followed by rest — delivered the best overall results. Researchers found that HIIT reduced fat mass, improved body fat percentage, and cut visceral fat, which is the deeper abdominal fat linked to health problems. Crucially, it also maintained lean body mass, which in practical terms largely means muscle.
The other two groups did not fare as well on that last point. Moderate-intensity exercise reduced fat and visceral fat, but it also caused small losses in lean mass. Low-intensity exercise produced modest fat loss, while muscle loss continued without improvement.
You Do Not Need a Lot of It
Here is the part worth repeating. Research suggests that even 15 to 20 minutes of HIIT per week is a significant improvement over doing nothing at all. That breaks down to just a few minutes on most days.
Of course, the high-intensity part does require some care. If you have not been active in a while, or if you have any health concerns, it is worth checking with your doctor before ramping up the effort level.
Keeping muscle as we age matters more than most people realize. It affects balance, strength, independence, and how we feel day to day. And now there is solid research, with participants our age, showing that the right kind of exercise can help protect it while trimming fat. That is a combination worth knowing about.