Short bursts, strong muscles: after 65, interval training kept the muscle that gentler workouts lost

Losing weight after 65 often comes with a hidden cost: muscle slips away along with the fat, and muscle is what keeps people steady, mobile and independent. Researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia followed 123 healthy adults, averaging 72 years old, through six months of supervised exercise — three 45-minute sessions a week, at high, moderate or low intensity. Every group lost a modest amount of fat, but only the high-intensity interval training (HIIT) group — short, demanding bursts mixed with rest — kept its lean muscle; the gentler groups lost a little of theirs. The team is honest about the limits: the gains were modest, body scans measured lean tissue rather than strength itself, and the sessions were supervised and tailored to each person. Still, the message is encouraging — the body in its seventies still answers when it is asked to work a little harder.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: behaviour campaign