Forget swimming or cycling — a new study shows this surprising exercise could protect your brain health for 5 years

I recently read about a study that says you can boost your brain health using one particular form of exercise that surprised me — high-intensity training (HIT). As a personal trainer, I already knew that the benefits of HIIT range from increasing calorie burn to boosting cardiovascular fitness and strength, but the brain?

The piece of research, published in Aging and Disease, looked at cognitively healthy adults aged 65-85 against three different six-month exercise regimes and assessed hippocampal cognition tied to learning and memory. The results were pretty promising for HIT.

Here’s everything you need to know about the study, and how HIT could protect your brain health — for as long as five years.

What is the study?

As mentioned, the published research assessed older healthy adults comparing three different exercise regimens and their effect on “hippocampal-dependent cognition.” Participants were randomly assigned either low-intensity training (LIT), medium-intensity training (MIT), or high-intensity training (HIT) over six months, completing 72 sessions in total.

Each month, cognitive testing was performed on their hippocampal performance, continuing for up to five years following the start of the study. After six months, the HIT group was the only group to show significant improvement in hippocampal function.

Researchers concluded from the data that HIT training for as little as six months could significantly improve and prolong cognitive health for as long as five years, even protecting against hippocampal cognitive decline with age.

That equates to roughly just three HIIT sessions per week for six months to achieve five years' worth of benefits for your brain health and memory. All you need is consistency and a HIT workout you can sustain.

Researchers suggest the intensity bursts could mediate circulating levels of something called BDNF, which stands for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a chemical required to help brain cells connect and grow. Think of it as strength training for your brain. HIIT-mediated changes in BDNF and cortisol correlated with improved "hippocampal-dependent" cognitive ability.

So, if you want to protect your brain for years to come, think about pushing the intensity next time you work out and skyrocketing those heart rates.

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