Our Review Summary

This Good Morning America! video and accompanying article from ABC News extrapolate wildly from a study looking at the effects of three exercise types on molecular changes in the skeletal muscles of younger (18-30 years) and older (65-80 years) adults.

Unfortunately, the story takes a statement from the study abstract — “high intensity interval training (HIIT) improved age-related decline in muscle mitochondria” — and incorrectly suggests this translates to an anti-aging effect in people. In reality, there is no proven link between changes seen at the molecular level, nor with aging at the individual level.

The story also glosses over the harms–HIIT exercise should be used very judiciously in older adults. In fact, the vast majority of people who signed up for the study were excluded because of a variety of health concerns. This is important information since the article and video take a promotional stance toward HIIT, claiming it “could keep you younger,” without informing people that it is clearly not appropriate for everyone and may even cause significant harm.

Why This Matters

“Anti-aging” is one of the most entrenched and enticing click-baits out there. Taking a biochemical study (with a very small sample size no less) and applying the results to individuals is misguided, misleading, and perpetuates misinformation. Rule of thumb: There is nothing in the history of science that has been proven to reverse aging. Slow aging? Debatable. Stop aging? Death.