

What Helps Your Brain Age Better: Steady-State Exercise or HIIT Workouts?

Better blood flow to your brain means a lower risk of dementia as you get older, researchers say.

Mature Woman Jumping Rope in Gym Setting
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  • According to a new study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, HIIT workouts can help stave off dementia as you age.
  • HIIT was found to improve blood flow to the brain more so than steady-state exercise, especially in older adults.

    High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a go-to workout to build the stamina you need to tackle tough hills and sprints on a ride. But according to new research from Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast and the German Sport University Cologne, there’s another benefit of incorporating HIIT days into your training: Doing so can also help prevent cognitive decline as you get older.

    In the study, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 11 young men (with an average age of 25) and 10 older men (with an average age of 69) performed three exercise tests.

    For the first test, participants rode an exercise bike for three minutes at a time (separated by one minute of passive recovery)—with each three-minute period, they increased their power output by 25 watts until they reached 85 percent of their individual max heart rate.

    For the second test, they rode continuously for 10 minutes followed by 10 minutes of seated rest. The third test consisted of 10 one-minute intervals at 60 percent of their individual max wattage, each separated by one min of seated rest.

    The researchers found there was a greater overall change in the total accumulated volume of blood flow over the duration of both exercise and recovery for both populations during interval exercise as compared to steady-state.

    “Brain blood flow slowly decreases with age and has been linked to risk of cognitive decline, including dementia,” study coauthor Timo Klein, M.Sc., part of the VasoActive Research Group at the University of the Sunshine Coast, told Bicycling. “[But] these increases in brain blood flow using interval exercise may be important for future brain health.”

    You might be wondering how exactly increased blood flow to your brain helps? According to Klein, the blood flows through your brain’s arteries, which are found in your brain tissue. This increased blood flow—which helps bring oxygen and nutrients to your brain that it needs to function—could improve the connections of the neurons in your brain. And that, in turn, can reduce the risk of diseases like dementia.


    So why doesn’t steady-state exercise improve brain health as much as HIIT does?

    According to Klein, the increased amount of blood flow during the recovery periods of the intervals lead to a higher overall volume of blood flow than the continuous bouts of exercise. This means that interval exercise may improve the health of your arteries more than continuous exercise. “Importantly this was consistent in both younger and older men,” Klein said.

    And while the study only included men, Klein said that based on similar research that has been done, women would probably have a similar result. However, further investigation needs to be done before we know for sure.

    The bottom line is this: Including regular HIIT workouts in your training will not only benefit your performance on the bike, but it can help boost your brain health, too.

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