A few minutes of sprinting could make a bigger impact than 90 minutes of moderate running

Rockefeller researchers reported that three minutes of all-out sprinting changed far more blood proteins and metabolites than 90 minutes of moderate exercise in a study published Aug. 13 in Cell Reports Medicine.

The findings, described in a EurekAlert! release, came from comparisons of exercise intensity. Six sets of 30-second sprints altered nearly a quarter of the proteins measured immediately afterward, while 90 minutes of moderate continuous cycling altered fewer than one-quarter of one percent.

Moderate treadmill running changed more proteins than cycling but still far fewer than sprinting. Sprinting also triggered changes in more than 200 metabolites and caused an immediate surge in proteins involved in blood-vessel growth, tissue remodeling and hormonal signaling.

Some proteins appeared to enter the bloodstream through ectodomain shedding, a process in which parts of proteins already on the cell surface are cleaved off and released into circulation. Human fat cells exposed to blood collected after sprinting showed extensive changes in gene activity affecting fuel processing, hormone response and nutrient sensing.

Moderate exercise produced a more modest and delayed response. A meaningful wave of fatty acids and liver-derived proteins typically linked to endurance exercise appeared three hours after moderate exercise, while human fat cells exposed to blood collected after moderate cycling showed only minor gene-activity changes.

The researchers compared exercise-responsive proteins with health data from more than 53,000 people in the UK Biobank and found many were associated with lower cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk. Of 33 proteins associated with lower risk, 32 were altered by sprinting and three by moderate exercise; more than a quarter were also associated with slower biological aging. "What’s exciting here is that just a few minutes of intense exercise can trigger a significant molecular response," Cohen said. Luke Olsen, the postdoctoral fellow who conducted the studies, said exerkines, or proteins and metabolites released into the bloodstream after exercise, may help explain the effects of short bursts of vigorous exercise.

You can learn more about the study here.