Try HIIT exercises to boost your brain

UF Health Podcasts

Want to boost your brain? You’ll need to hit the gym. A new study shows that just a few months of high-intensity interval training exercises, also known as HIIT [hit], can increase brain function in older adults for years to come.

University of Queensland researchers studied 151 healthy people between the ages of 65 and 85 who were randomly assigned to low-, medium-, or high-intensity exercise interventions. Each intervention included 72 supervised exercise sessions that participants attended over six months.

The low-intensity exercises involved stretching, balance, range of motion, and relaxation tasks. The medium-intensity exercises included 30 minutes of treadmill walking. In the 25-minute high-intensity group, participants did four cycles of hard running followed by short rest breaks.

Each month during the study and for five years after, researchers collected blood samples and evaluated the performance of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. Participants underwent MRI scans at the study’s beginning, middle, and end.

Results showed that only those enrolled in the HIIT group saw a significant improvement in brain function and an increase in functional connectivity, which gauges how parts of the brain interact. But they did not share the age-related decrease in brain volume observed in the low- and medium-intensity groups.

The best part? The benefits held for five years after the study, suggesting that short-term HIIT exercise can have long-term benefits.

So, pardon the pun, but don’t let your brain take a “hit” as you age. Work hard now and let your mind reap the benefits later.