A new study led by academics at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is investigating how different levels of exercise intensity affect body composition in older people.
This study found that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may be the best exercise for older adults to reduce body fat while preserving muscle mass.
“We found that high-, moderate-, and low-intensity exercise all led to moderate fat loss, but only HIIT helped maintain lean muscle,” said lead author and exercise physiologist Grace Rose, Ph.D.
This study investigated how different exercise intensities affect body composition in healthy older adults.
“Moderate training reduced fat mass, but also slightly reduced toned muscle,” she said.
“At both high and moderate intensities, the composition of the weight carried near the center was improved. The low-intensity results require further analysis.”
Dr. Rose said this finding is particularly useful because body composition is implicated in the progression of many age-related chronic diseases.
More than 120 healthy older adults from the Brisbane metropolitan area took part in the study, completing three exercise sessions per week at a gym for six months.
Their average age was 72 years, and their average BMI was 26 kg/m2, which was classified as normal for people over 65 years of age.
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Co-author Mia Schanberg, associate professor of physiology at UniSC, welcomed the timing of the paper’s publication in the journal. Maturitaswith collaborators including UniSC’s Healthy Aging Research Cluster and the University of Queensland.
“Now that most of us have passed the Christmas season and New Year’s resolutions are in full swing, this research could help inform people’s plans for healthy aging in 2026,” she said.
“High-intensity training in this study involved short bursts or intervals of very hard exercise that made breathing hard and difficult to speak, alternating with easy recovery periods.
“HIIT may be more effective because it puts more stress on your muscles and gives your body a stronger signal to maintain rather than lose muscle tissue.”