VO2max is one of the strongest predictors for cardiovascular health and mortality and is observed to decrease with ~1% per year until old age where the decline may accelerate.
ØYVIND STØREN, JAN HELGERUD, MONA SÆBØ, EVA MARIA STØA, SOLFRID BRATLAND-SANDA, RUNAR J. UNHJEM, JAN HOFF, and EIVIND WANG
Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) is one of the strongest predictors for cardiovascular health and mortality and is observed to decrease with ~1% per year until old age where the decline may accelerate. As a consequence, individuals suffer an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death with increasing age. Recognizing that the age-related decline in VO2max indeed has multifactorial causes; most of it may be explained by reductions in the physical activity level as this also is shown to decrease with age. Thus, counteracting inactivity with effective aerobic endurance training to reduce some of the VO2max decline may be an excellent strategy for healthy aging.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is documented to yield effective improvements in the cardiovascular system. However, it is not determined how age may affect the training response of key components of aerobic endurance.
We recruited 72 males (mean: weight = 85 kg, height = 180 cm) and 22 females (weight = 76 kg, height = 171 cm) from 20 to 70+ yr with a training status typical for their age group and divided them into six decade groups. The participants followed supervised HIIT4x4 min with a targeted intensity of 90%–95% of maximal HR (HRmax) three times a week for 8 weeks.
After HIIT, all age groups increased VO2max on average with 0.3-0.4 L/min from (20–+70yr). These 9%–13% improvements were not different between the age groups. In contrastto age, the percentage improvements after HIIT were inversely associated with baseline training status. HRmax was not altered within the respective age cohorts, but the two oldest cohorts exhibited a tendency to increase HRmax in contrast to a training- induced decrease in the younger groups.
Conclusion: The current study revealed similar improvements in VO2max in participants from 20 to 70+ yr of age and implies that the training response to short-term HIIT is not affected up to moderate age in individuals with a VO2max representative for what is typically observed in the population. By contrast, our results showed that the magnitude of VO2max improvement was affected by the initial training status. Our results advocate that 4x4 min HIIT can be used as an effective strategy to improve VO2max in the aging popu- lation, and given the close association between VO2max and physical health, this may be beneficial for the quality of life of the individual and serve as a cost-effective socioeconomic enterprise for public health.
Read the full study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27501361/