3-minute workout may outperform 90 minutes of exercise, scientists say

Highlights:

• Three-minute sprints triggered major molecular changes
• Sprinting altered nearly 25% of measured blood proteins
• Changes were linked to metabolism, heart health and ageing
• 32 of 33 health-linked proteins responded to sprinting

A few minutes of high-intensity exercise could make biological changes that are far greater than those produced by a much longer workout, according to a new study by researchers at Rockefeller University.

The study found that a three-minute sprint session caused major changes in blood proteins, metabolites and other molecular markers that are linked to metabolism, cardiovascular health and ageing, reports Newsweek.

Researchers compared the effects of different forms of exercise by asking participants to complete either six rounds of 30-second all-out sprints, 90 minutes of moderate cycling or a moderate treadmill run.

The results showed that sprinting caused an immediate shift in nearly one-quarter of the proteins measured in the participants' blood.

In comparison, 90 minutes of moderate cycling changed fewer than one-quarter of 1% of proteins. While moderate running produced a stronger molecular response than cycling, it still fell well short of the changes seen following sprinting.

Study author Paul Cohen, the Albert Resnick, MD associate professor, told Newsweek, "Our work was designed to test whether different exercise modalities elicit distinct whole-body responses as assessed by measuring a very large panel of proteins, metabolites, and lipids in the bloodstream, which we found to be the case."

What happened after sprinting?

The researchers also observed that sprinting increased more than 200 metabolites and rapidly boosted proteins involved in tissue repair, blood vessel formation and hormone-related activity.

According to the research team, some of these changes occurred because proteins already attached to cells were quickly released into the bloodstream rather than being produced from scratch.

The study went beyond blood analysis. Scientists exposed human fat cells to blood samples collected after exercise and found that blood taken after sprinting significantly changed the cells' genetic activity. These changes affected how fat cells used energy, responded to hormones and sensed nutrients.

"What's exciting here is that just a few minutes of intense exercise can trigger a significant molecular response," Cohen said in a statement.

"And we still see it after eight weeks of training, which tells us this response isn't simply a product of the body struggling to keep up with unfamiliar stress. It may be that the responses we observed are intrinsic to intense exercise."

Researchers also found that moderate exercise produced a different response, as changes commonly associated with endurance training appeared about three hours after cycling, while the effect on fat cells remained relatively limited.

Links to better health outcomes

To understand whether these biological changes could influence long-term health, the team compared their findings with data from more than 53,000 people included in the UK Biobank database.

Many of the exercise-responsive proteins were associated with a lower risk of heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

Of 33 proteins associated with a lower risk of these conditions, 32 were altered by sprinting. Moderate exercise altered just three.

Researchers also found that more than a quarter of these proteins were linked to slower biological ageing.

Cohen told Newsweek, "In general, the literature in the field does suggest that combining different types of exercise is a wise approach, though given many people's sedentary lifestyles, any type of physical activity and/or exercise is likely to provide some benefits."