Research

Hormonal

High-intensity aerobic exercise stimulates mitochondrial protein synthesis (MitoPS) in late recovery (24-28h), whereas low-intensity exercise does not, although neither intensity stimulated MitoPS in early recovery (0.5-4.5h) in the fasted state.

If you are doing fasted cardio, high-intensity intervals may be more effective than low-intensity steady state for stimulating mitochondrial protein synthesis in the 24-28 hour window after exercise. Low-intensity cardio did not stimulate mitochondrial synthesis in this study, regardless of intensity, in the early recovery phase.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Over 24–28 h postexercise, MitoPS was significantly greater after the HIGH vs. LOW exercise trial (P < 0.05). Rates of MyoPS were increased equivalently over 0.5– 4.5 h postexercise recovery (P < 0.05) but remained elevated at 24 –28 h postexercise only following the HIGH trial.
Danielle M. Di Donato et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · 2014

Why this rating

Clear statistical difference in late recovery MitoPS between HIGH and LOW, but limited by small sample size and lack of early MitoPS stimulation.

Source

Influence of aerobic exercise intensity on myofibrillar and mitochondrial protein synthesis in young men during early and late postexercise recovery

Danielle M. Di Donato et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · 2014

DOI 10.1152/ajpendo.00487.2013

crossover · n=8Cited 142×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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