According to research from Rockefeller University in New York, three minutes of high-intensity exercise may trigger a stronger molecular response than 90 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise. Approximately 20 healthy men performed 30-second sprints during a 23-minute session, while those in the comparison group cycled for 90 minutes. Blood samples taken before, during, immediately after and three hours after exercise showed that levels of more than 700 proteins associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases increased in the runners. The proteins were linked to muscle, liver, gut, immune and organ health. In the cycling group, changes were detected in only 7 proteins during the activity and about a dozen proteins three hours later. The effect persisted after 8 weeks of training. Dr. Paul Cohen said this may be inherent to intense exercise. While the findings show that different exercise intensities do not produce the same effect, the mechanism is not yet understood in detail. Broader research is needed because women were not included and the number of participants was small.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that looking only at duration may be insufficient when assessing the health effects of exercise; intensity also emerges as a factor determining the body’s molecular response. Changes in proteins linked to different tissues and organs suggest that the effects of short bursts of intense exertion are not limited to the muscles. However, it has not yet been explained how these protein changes translate into actual outcomes for disease risk or why intense exercise produces a broader response. Because the study involved only a small number of healthy men, it remains unclear to what extent the results apply to women or people with different health conditions; broader research is therefore needed.