Endurance but not resistance training has anti-aging effects

Microcopic image of thin sections of a thoracic mouse aorta exposed to a fluorescent probe to stain telomeres. Nuclei of cells are stained blue and telomeres are shown by red dots within nuclei. The fluorescence intensity correlates with telomere length. Red curved lines are from elastin auto-fluorescence. Credit: PD Dr. Christian Werner, University Clinic of the Saarland, Homburg, Germany, and the European Heart Journal.

Researchers have discovered evidence that endurance exercise, such as running, swimming, cross-country skiing and cycling, will help you age better than resistance exercise, which involves strength training with weights.

07 dec 2018--In a study published in the European Heart Journal today, researchers in Germany looked at the effects of three types of exercise—endurance training, high intensity interval training and resistance training—on the way cells in the human body age, and they found that endurance and high intensity training both slowed or even reversed cellular aging, but that resistance training did not.
Our DNA is organised into chromosomes in all the cells in our bodies. At the end of each chromosome is a repetitive DNA sequence, called a telomere, that caps the chromosome and protects its ends from deteriorating. As we grow older, the telomeres shorten and this is an important molecular mechanism for cell aging, which eventually leads to cell death when the telomere are no longer able to protect the chromosomal DNA. The process of telomere shortening is regulated by several proteins. Among them is the enzyme telomerase that is able to counteract the shortening process and can even add length to the telomeres.
The researchers led by Professor Ulrich Laufs, of Leipzig University, Germany, enrolled 266 young, healthy but previously inactive volunteers and randomised them to six months of endurance training (continuous running), high intensity interval training (warm-up, followed by four bouts of high intensity running alternating with slower running, and then a final cool down of slower running), resistance training (circuit training on eight machines, including back extension, crunch, pulldown, seated rowing, seated leg curl and extension, seated chest press and lying leg press), or to an unchanged lifestyle (the control group).
The participants who were randomised to the three forms of exercise undertook three 45-minutes sessions a week, and a total of 124 completed the study. The researchers analysed telomere length and telomerase activity in white blood cells in blood taken from the volunteers at the start of the study, and two to seven days after the final bout of exercise six months later.
Prof Laufs said: "Our main finding is that, compared to the start of the study and the control group, in volunteers who did endurance and high intensity training, telomerase activity and telomere length increased, which are both important for cellular aging, regenerative capacity and thus, healthy aging. Interestingly, resistance training did not exert these effects."
Telomerase activity was increased two- to three-fold and telomere length was increased significantly in the endurance and high intensity training groups compared to the resistance and control groups.

Take home image showing the effects of three types of exercise -- endurance training, high intensity interval training and resistance training -- on the way cells in the human body age, and they found that endurance and high intensity training both slowed or even reversed cellular aging, but that resistance training did not. Credit: Ulrich Laufs, Christian Werner and the European Heart Journal

"The study identifies a mechanism by which endurance training—but not resistance training—improves healthy aging. It may help to design future studies on this important topic by using telomere length as indicator of 'biological age' in future intervention studies," said Prof Laufs.

Co-author of the study, Dr. Christian Werner, of Saarland University, Germany, said: "The study has several implications: Our data support the European Society of Cardiology's current guideline recommendations that resistance exercise should be complementary to endurance training rather than a substitute. The data identify telomerase activity and telomere length as sensitive ways to measure at cell level the effects of different forms of exercise. Using these measurements to guide training recommendations for individuals may improve both adherence to and efficacy of exercise training programmes in preventing cardiovascular disease."
Previous research has shown that longer telomeres and increased telomerase activity are associated with healthy aging. However, this is the first prospective, randomised controlled study of the effects of different forms of exercise on these two measurements of cellular aging.
Prof Laufs said: "Physical exercise is widely recommended. However, prospective randomised controlled training studies are very rare because they require a great effort and there are no funding sources from industry. The numbers of participants in our study may appear small compared to large drug trials, however, to the best of our knowledge, this is the largest randomised study comparing well defined training modalities with a control group and with a long duration of six months. We hope that our project will stimulate confirmation and further studies in this field."
A possible mechanism that might explain why endurance and high intensity training could increase telomere length and telomerase activity is that these types of exercise affect levels of nitric oxide in the blood vessels, contributing to the changes in the cells.
"From an evolutionary perspective, endurance and high intensity training may mimic the advantageous travelling and fight or flight behaviour of our ancestors better than strength training," said Dr. Werner.
Limitations of the study include the fact that the number of participants is small, even though it represents the largest study to investigate this in a prospective and randomised controlled way; and the everyday activities of the participants outside the training sessions may have included elements of the other forms of exercise, but this would be likely in all the groups, including the control group.
In an accompanying editorial by Professor Konstantinos Stellos and Professor Ioakim Spyridopoulos, from Newcastle University and Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, who were not involved in the research, write that so far there has been no evidence that the role played by telomerase to maintain telomere length is implicated in the onset of cardiovascular disease, except maybe for heart failure. Rather, it appears that an acceleration in telomere shortening may be a sign of increased oxidative stress and a higher turnover of cells, coinciding with diminished telomerase activity. However, telomerase leads to enhanced nitric oxide, decreased oxidative stress, reduced damage to cells' DNA and reduced cell death, which are all important for delaying the clogging up of arteries with fatty deposits. They conclude that the findings from the study by Dr. Werner and Prof Laufs "clearly underline the advantage of aerobic endurance training compared to resistance training in cardiovascular ageing".

More information: "Differential effects of endurance, interval and resistance training on telomerase activity and telomere length in a randomized, controlled study ", by Christian Werner et al. European Heart Journal. DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy585

"Exercise, telomerase activity and cardiovascular disease prevention," by Konstantinos Stellos and Ioakim Spyridopoulos. European Heart Journal. DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy707


Provided by European Society of Cardiology

Elderly can get fit in 60 seconds

The health of OAPs can be dramatically improved with high-intensity training (HIT), a new study has shown.

30 july 2014--Scientists here at Abertay University, who specialise in exercise and the ageing process, put a group of pensioners through the exercise regime - a population group on which HIT had never been tested before.

They found that - in just six weeks - doing one minute of exercise twice a week not only significantly increased physical fitness and functional ability (the ability to get up out of a chair or carry shopping), but also significantly reduced blood pressure - a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

These discoveries have important implications.

Currently, more than 10 million people in the UK are aged over 65, with this figure set to double in the next 30 years.

As people get older, muscles get weaker and smaller, and poor muscle function is a major health concern in the elderly.

The older population is also at greater risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes and - together with frailty - these health issues cost the NHS in the region of £30 billion a year.

Although it is well-known that exercise can help reduce the effects of these age-related declines and can improve quality of life, the majority of older people find it difficult to meet the current exercise guidelines.

These consist of performing moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity - such as fast walking or running - several days per week.

Lack of time is reported as the most common barrier to meeting these guidelines, and the research team at Abertay believes that HIT offers an alternative to the current, unrealistic, recommendations.

Dr John Babraj explains:

"The ageing process is generally looked on quite negatively by society, with everyone knowing that you find it more difficult to carry out day-to-day activities like standing up from your chair, or carrying your shopping, as you get older.

"What we found with this study - which involves doing just one minute of exercise twice week - is that it not only improved the participants' physical health and ability to do these things, but also their perceptions of their own ability to engage inphysical activity. They enjoyed it, were delighted with the effects it had on their health and, on top of that, felt they could fit it into their lives, which is something they aren't able to do with current exercise recommendations.

"If people aren't meeting the targets, we need to find ways to work with them when it comes to exercise, rather than just persisting with something that isn't working. High-intensity training is an achievable alternative that could make a real difference to people's health and their quality of life.

"With the current increase in the number of retired people, it is important that we find new ways to keep them active that have a positive impact on their health and wellbeing.

"There is eight years of evidence which shows that HIT has a significant impact on obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and this study adds to that, showing that it is something that older people can benefit from too."

In the study participants were divided into two groups, with one acting as a control and the other required to take part in two sessions of high-intensity training per week.

Each session consisted of 6-second all-out sprints on an exercise bike, with each participant fitted with a heart rate monitor throughout.

The number of sprints in each session was progressively increased over the course of the trial from 6 x 6-second sprints to 10 x 6-second sprints.

A minimum of one minute recovery time was allowed between each sprint, and participants were not allowed to start sprinting again until their heart rate had gone back down to below 120bpm.

Dr Babraj concludes:

"When it comes to the sprints, you don't have to go at the speed of someone like Usain Bolt. As long as you are putting in your maximal effort - whatever speed that happens to be - it will improve your health.

"However, as with any type of exercise, it is important to consult with your doctor before you begin doing HIT, in case there are any underlying health issues."

More information: Adamson, S. B., Lorimer, R., Cobley, J. N. and Babraj, J. A. (2014), "Extremely Short–Duration High-Intensity Training Substantially Improves the Physical Function and Self-Reported Health Status of Elderly Adults." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62: 1380–1381. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.12916

Provided by University of Abertay Dundee

Moderate aerobic exercise in older adults shown to modify brain hippocampus, improve memory

A new study shows that one year of moderate physical exercise can increase the size of the brain's hippocampus in older adults, leading to an improvement in spatial memory.

01 feb 2011--The project—conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois, Rice University, and Ohio State University—is considered the first study of its kind focusing on older adults who are already experiencing atrophy of the hippocampus, the brain structure involved in all forms of memory formation. The study, funded through the National Institute on Aging, appears in the Jan. 31 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The scientists recruited 120 sedentary older people without dementia and randomly placed them in one of two groups—those who began an exercise regimen of walking around a track for 40 minutes a day, three days a week, or those limited to stretching and toning exercises. Magnetic resonance images were collected before the intervention, after six months, and at the end of the one-year study.

The aerobic exercise group demonstrated an increase in volume of the left and right hippocampus of 2.12 percent and 1.97 percent, respectively. The same regions of the brain in those who did stretching exercises decreased in volume by 1.40 and 1.43 percent, respectively.

Spatial memory tests were conducted for all participants at the three intervals. Those in the aerobic exercise group showed improved memory function, when measured against their performance at the start of the study, an improvement associated with the increased size of the hippocampus. The authors also examined several biomarkers associated with brain health, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a small molecule that is involved in learning and memory. They found that the increases in hippocampal size were associated with increased amounts of BDNF.

"We think of the atrophy of the hippocampus in later life as almost inevitable," said Kirk Erickson, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and the paper's lead author. "But we've shown that even moderate exercise for one year can increase the size of that structure. The brain at that stage remains modifiable."

"The results of our study are particularly interesting in that they suggest that even modest amounts of exercise by sedentary older adults can lead to substantial improvements in memory and brain health," said Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois and the senior author.

"Such improvements have important implications for the health of our citizens and the expanding population of older adults worldwide."

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Simple Exercise Keeps Brain at Top of Its Game

21 jan 2009--Physical fitness may be as good for the brain as it is for the body in old age, a new study says.
A study of Canadian women older than 65 found that those who took part in regular aerobic activity had cognitive function scores 10 percent higher than their peers who did not exercise. The active women also had lower blood pressure (at rest and during exercise) and better vascular responses in the brain, suggesting that better blood flow aids the ability to think, the study found.
The findings were published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
"Being sedentary is now considered a risk factor for stroke and dementia," study author Marc Poulin, an associate professor in the Faculties of Medicine and Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, said in a news release issued by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. "This study proves for the first time that people who are fit have better blood flow to their brain. Our findings also show that better blood flow translates into improved cognition."
"The take-home message from our research is that basic fitness -- something as simple as getting out for a walk every day -- is critical to staying mentally sharp and remaining healthy as we age," Poulin said.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about exercise for older adults.

Study: Soccer beats jogging for fitness

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical WriterThu Sep 20, 9:41 PM ET
A friendly game of soccer works off more fat and builds up more muscle than jogging, new research shows. Danish scientists, who conducted their research on 37 men, also found the soccer players felt less tired after exercising than the joggers because they were having more fun.
"This is good news for men who prefer to play football (soccer) with their mates," said Dr. Gary O'Donovan, a sports medicine expert at the University of Exeter who was not connected to the study.
To measure how hard the men were working out, the researchers strapped heart monitors to their chests and compared blood samples and muscle tissue before and after matches and jogging sessions.
The researchers selected men with similar health profiles aged 31 to 33 and split them into groups of soccer players, joggers, and couch potatoes — who not surprisingly ended the three-month study in the worst shape.
Each period of exercise lasted about one hour and took place three times a week. After 12 weeks, researchers found that the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7 percent, compared to about 2 percent for the joggers.
The soccer players also increased their muscle mass by almost 4.5 pounds, whereas the joggers didn't have any significant change. Those who did no exercise registered little change in body fat and muscle mass.
"Even though the football (soccer) players were untrained, there were periods in the game that were so intense that their cardiovascular was maximally taxed, just like professional football (soccer) players," said Dr. Peter Krustrup, head of Copenhagen University's department of exercise and sport sciences, who led the study.
The soccer players and the joggers had the same average heart rate, but the soccer players got a better workout because of intense bursts of activity. Krustrup and his colleagues found there were periods during soccer matches when the players' hearts were pumping at 90 percent their full capacity. But the joggers' hearts were never pushed as hard.
Unlike the soccer players, the joggers consistently thought their runs were exhausting.
"The soccer players were having more fun, so they were more focused on scoring goals and helping the team, rather than the feeling of strain and muscle pain," Krustrup said.
Health officials were unsure how much impact the study results might have on the wider population.
Nick Cavill, a research associate at the British Heart Foundation at Oxford University, said it's hard enough convincing people to exercise moderately, let alone engage in a high-intensity sport like soccer.
"There might be enormous benefits to telling people to play football twice a week," he said. "But if they're not going to do it, then that message may be useless."

High-intensity walking beneficial for elderly

Thu Jul 19, 10:28 PM ET
High-intensity walking helps elderly adults keep their blood pressure in check, maintain thigh muscle strength, and increase their exercise capacity, according to results of a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
"The rapid growth in the elderly population in many countries has highlighted the importance of exercise training to decrease the likelihood of disability and age-associated disease, promote independence, and enhance quality of life," Dr. Hiroshi Nose and colleagues from Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan, write.
Moderately paced walking (about 6 kilometers or 3.7 miles per hour) is thought to protect against disability and is recommended for middle-aged and older people. However, such walking may not be intense enough to improve aerobic exercise capacity.
To address this issue, the researchers randomly assigned 60 older men and 186 older women to one of three groups: no walking training, moderate-intensity walking training, and high-intensity walking training. The groups were studied for 5 months.
Patients who engaged in high-intensity walking, which included several short intervals of high-intensity walking interspersed with intervals of low-intensity walking, showed greater improvements in blood pressure, thigh muscle strength, and exercise capacity than did patients in the other groups.
The results provide further support for the adoption of an active lifestyle, Dr. James Levine, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, comments in an accompanying editorial. "The longer a person is active, the better, regardless of what form the activity takes."
"We are designed to walk all day long, and (this) article suggests that we should," Levine concludes.
SOURCE: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, July 2007.