Ageing: Quick, short bursts of exercise work wonders

Margaret Jennings looks at a training method making headlines following positive research results and hears some important dos and don’ts from a fitness expert.

HIGH-intensity interval training (HIIT) made the headlines recently when a new US study found that older participants, aged 65-80, who exercised in this way over three months, reversed the ageing decline in their cells and boosted their lung, heart and circulation health.

The take-home message from the Mayo Clinic research was that HIIT is ideal for ageing adults as it benefits our body at the molecular level as well as metabolically.