Running is better than weight training at reversing signs of ageing

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The team noted a greater increase in telomerase activity and telomere length in the white blood cells of the participants who did endurance and HIIT training in comparison to those who did resistance training or no exercise at all. “Our main finding is that, compared to the start of the study and the control group, in volunteers who did endurance and high intensity training, telomerase activity and telomere length increased, which are both important for cellular ageing, regenerative capacity and thus, healthy ageing,” says Professor Ulrich Lauds, one of the authors of the study. “Interestingly, resistance training did not exert these effects.” Dr Christian Werner, co-author of the study, believes the key to the team’s findings may lie in human heritage. “From an evolutionary perspective, endurance and high intensity training may mimic the advantageous travelling and fight or flight behaviour of our ancestors better than strength training,” he says.