Adherence
Five years of supervised high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in older adults (70-77 years) shows a non-significant trend toward reduced all-cause mortality compared to following national physical activity guidelines, whereas moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) showed no benefit and potentially increased risk.
If you are in your 70s, simply following general activity guidelines (like daily walking) may not be enough to maximize your lifespan. Incorporating high-intensity intervals (like 4 minutes of hard effort repeated 4 times, twice a week) under supervision shows a promising trend toward lower mortality compared to moderate activity alone. However, the study was not large enough to prove this statistically, so consistency and safety are key.
When MICT and HIIT were analysed separately, with the control group as reference (observed mortality of 4.7%), an absolute risk reduction of 1.7 percentage points was observed after HIIT (hazard ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.33 to 1.20) and an absolute increased risk of 1.2 percentage points after MICT (1.24, 0.73 to 2.10).
Why this rating
Large randomized controlled trial (n=1567) with long follow-up (5 years) and blinded endpoint assessment, but limited by high baseline activity in controls and healthy volunteer bias.
Source
Effect of exercise training for five years on all cause mortality in older adults—the Generation 100 study: randomised controlled trial
Dorthe Stensvold et al. · BMJ · 2020
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