SCIENTISTS from Duke University in the United States sought to find out if exercise effects done 10 years ago have positive adaptations that linger on until present day. Most of the researchers were involved in a large-scale exercise experiment called “Strride” (Studies Targeting Risk Reduction Interventions through Defined Exercise) which ran through 1998 to 2003 with hundreds of overweight or sedentary volunteers who either did not exercise (control group) or started to exercise.
The exercise was either moderate, like walking, or vigorous like jogging. These had the volunteers burning off at least a few hundred calories each session. Volunteers had to complete three sessions of the workouts for eight months while researchers tracked changes to their fitness, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and waist circumference. Unsurprisingly, these variables improved in the volunteers assigned to the experimental group.
At the end of the study, the researchers did not get in touch with the volunteers up until 10 years later when the latter were contacted for a reunion study. The results? Those who did not exercise in the original study were less fit now, and those who belonged to the intense exercise group lost five percent of their aerobic fitness.
Those who performed less intense workouts lost 10 percent of their aerobic fitness.
What does this mean for us?
1. Physiological benefits of exercise may stay on for longer durations or up until our lifetime. I was a swimmer and have always had an easier time with gaining cardiovascular fitness than muscular strength.
2. Intensity is key. Yes, walking might be good, but we should have a plan to push the limits of our fitness under a supervised program.
3. Why stop exercising after eight months? Why not make it a goal to do it for our lifetime?