Why "Going Easy" Might Be Costing You Muscle

If you've ever assumed high-intensity training (HIIT) isn't for you once you hit your 60s or 70s ... a new six-month study says it might actually be the opposite.

Researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia followed more than 120 healthy older adults, average age 72, through six months of supervised training. Everyone exercised three times a week, just at different intensities: low, moderate, or high (HIIT — High-Intensity-Interval-Training ... short bursts of hard effort with recovery in between).

Here's the part worth paying attention to: all three groups lost some body fat. Only the HIIT group held onto their muscle. The moderate-intensity group actually lost a small amount of lean muscle along with the fat.

That distinction matters more than it sounds like it should. Muscle isn't just about strength or appearance as we age ... it's tied directly to balance, independence, fall risk, and how well your body handles everyday life. Losing fat while quietly losing muscle at the same time isn't really progress. It just changes what you're made of, in the wrong direction.

What This Means for You

I'll be honest ... this lines up with something I've believed for a while: going gentle isn't automatically going safe. Comfortable, low-effort training has its place, especially early on or during recovery. But if the goal is long-term strength, independence, and quality of life... intensity, applied correctly and safely, earns its spot in the plan.

This is exactly where Ambition, Dedication, and Discipline come in. Ambition to push past "good enough." Dedication to show up for the harder work consistently. Discipline to do it with the right form, the right progressions, and the right coaching in your corner... because HIIT for a 72-year-old isn't the same as HIIT for a 25-year-old... and it shouldn't be programmed like it is.

That last part is non-negotiable. The researchers themselves were clear: this works because it was supervised, scaled, and individualized. This isn't a green light to walk into a random class and max out. It's a case for working with someone who knows how to build intensity into your program safely... which is a big part of what coaching is actually for.

The Takeaway

You don't have to choose between "safe" and "effective." With the right guidance, you can have both — and the research is now backing that up.

If you're curious what intensity training could look like for you specifically, that's exactly the kind of conversation worth having with your coach.

---------------------------------

Source: Rose et al., published in Maturitas, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2026. Summary via ScienceDaily.