A recent study showed that people in their 70s can benefit a lot from high-intensity exercise. The study was conducted in Norway and lasted for five years. It found that, among the adults in their 70s, those who did two HIIT sessions per week had lower early mortality rates than those who did lower-intensity training. The results also show that high-intensity workouts are safe for participants of this age. 80% of them, however, reported being active before getting into the study, so the effect of previous exercise shouldn’t be neglected.
The current recommendation for older adults is to pursue low-intensity, low-impact activities. These are believed to be easier on the joints, but apparently, some higher intensity workouts could only do them good.
“We act like older adults are so fragile, and they can’t handle intensity and impact or it will destroy their bones and joints, but we’ve found the opposite is true,” Belinda Beck, Ph.D., told Very Well Fit. Peck is a researcher at Australian Griffith University and the director of The Bone Clinic. She noted that there have been studies that indicated that bones can react positively to high-intensity activities, which may reduce the need for medication.
