The Best Exercise for Seniors Is High-Intensity Interval Training, Study Says

A five-year study in the British Medical Journal by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found a twice-weekly regimen of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) improved fitness and overall well-being in people over 70, reports Good News Network . Participants were randomly assigned to three different training groups: HIIT, moderate intensity, and exercise according to Norwegian health authorities' recommendations. "Both physical and mental quality of life were better in the high-intensity group after five years than in the other two groups," said Norwegian University Professor Dorthe Stensvold. "High-intensity interval training also had the greatest positive effect on fitness." The researchers also learned that age has the least effect on fitness level for people who exercise regularly at high intensity. The HIIT group had a drop in fitness of 5 percent over a decade, while fitness levels dropped by 9 percent for individuals who exercised regularly but not at high intensity. Meanwhile, physically inactive subjects lost as much as 16 percent of their physical conditioning over 10 years.