A New Standard for Fitness?

How do we measure fitness?  Is it how fast we can run, how high we can jump?  Or maybe it’s how much we can pick up.  Many different systems of exercise have been developed over the years, some designed for the athlete to better their performance, others for individuals who are interested because being in shape helps them feel and think better.

What if we could distill the essence of fitness into a single word? That word would be ‘mitochondria’.

Why mitochondria?  Because these are little organelles that take food: carbohydrates, amino acids (protein) and fatty acids and oxidize them to create ATP, the fuel your cells use for energy.  The more of these little guys you have in your cells, the better. Every cell in your body has mitochondria, except red blood cells.  If you surmised that muscle cells are packed with them, you would be right.  And why wouldn’t they be?  Your muscles need to generate tremendous energy when called upon.  

About 40 years ago, professor John Holloszy at the University of Washington found that endurance exercise induced large changes in muscular mitochondria.  Over the intervening years, from his discovery to today, we have seen a boom in the number of people entering into some exercise regimen.   

What about the latest research?  An article posted on the Science Daily web site a few months ago presents us with the results of a study published in Cell Metabolism. The researchers took groups of volunteers, men and women in younger and older age groups and had them perform one of three different exercise programs.  One group did high intensity interval biking.  The second, strength training with weights.  The third performed a combination of the two.

The results?  While strength training caused the biggest increases in muscle mass, the high intensity exercise group experienced the largest rise in muscle mitochondria. (49% increase in the younger group, 69% increase in the older.) If that wasn’t enough the exercisers also showed improvement in insulin sensitivity. Which indicates a lower likelihood of developing diabetes.

We all know that any form of exercise is beneficial to the individual. My own adage is simple:  movement equals exercise equals fitness.  The takeaway is this: the more you move, the better shape you will be in. However, if you really want to maximize your fitness levels, ramp up the intensity and the results will follow.

Sreekumaran Nair, the lead author of the Cell Metabolism study suggests a best of both worlds approach: "If people have to pick one exercise, I would recommend high-intensity interval training, but I think it would be more beneficial if they could do 3-4 days of interval training and then a couple days of strength training,"

Here’s the link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170307155214.htm

Another excellent article can be found here:
https://www.mangomannutrition.com/mitochondrial-biogenesis-part1/
UPDATE:  I would like to see any research about aerobic exercise, running or biking, and the resulting change on cellular mitochondria.  That way we could get a better picture of what types of workouts will engender the most change.  This study only compares HIIT and weights.  It would be pretty good to put the third kind of workout next to the other two.