Endurance sports keep the cells young

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Strength training or endurance sports? Both are good for fitness. But running & Co. have an additional advantage: They slow down cell aging.

Some jog through the park or exhaust themselves with a cardio workout, others lift weights in the gym. Cardiologists at the Leipzig University Hospital have examined the effects of endurance sports, interval training and strength training on the body. In doing so, she was not only interested in cardiovascular fitness, but also in what effects physical training has on molecular and cellular levels.

In comparison: strength training, endurance sports, interval training

For this purpose, the researchers had a total of 255 middle-aged men and women who had not previously played any sport participate in training. The study participants completed a 45-minute training program three times a week over a period of six months. One group did strength training, another did endurance sport with moderate stress, and a third did so-called high-intensity interval training. Thereby short phases with high stress and light stress phases alternate.

At the beginning and at the end of the study, the researchers performed stress tests on their subjects. They also took cells from their blood.

Endurance sport slows down cell aging

When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, all three sports are found to be equally effective. However, the examination of the blood cells revealed a major difference: only classic endurance and interval training had a positive effect on cell aging.

The so-called telomeres are used as an indicator of biological age. They sit like protective caps on the ends of the chromosomes. With every cell division - and with it progressive cell aging - they shorten. This is counteracted by an enzyme called telomerase. If it is particularly active, it improves the cells' ability to regenerate. This has an overall effect on the aging processes in the body.

“Both types of endurance training have a positive effect on telomere length and telomerase activity,” explains study leader Prof. Ulrich Laufs. "In contrast, this was not the case with strength training." According to this, strength training can be a supplement to endurance training, but not a substitute.

Combine endurance and strength training

Sports physicians recommend a combination of strength and endurance sports anyway. In the second half of life, in particular, strength training can delay the breakdown of muscle mass.This has a positive effect on the metabolism, stabilizes the entire holding apparatus and thus counteracts back pain and osteoporosis. Endurance training is less effective in this regard.

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