Two scientists from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) are studying how exercise can combat aging through a $7.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Benjamin Miller and Sue Bodine are collaborating with researchers from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and the University of Florida over the next five years to create a model that can predict what factors determine whether someone responds to exercise. The study will involve two phases and nearly 200 people 60 and older who don’t exercise regularly.
Participants will undergo 12 weeks of supervised strength and endurance training at OMRF after their muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness are tested.
“It’s a well-known phenomenon that if you give a group of people the same exercise regimen, many of them will make considerable, measurable improvements, but some don’t change much, if at all,” Miller, the G.T. Blankenship Chair in Aging Research at OMRF, said in a press release.
In Phase 2, the team will increase the training intensity for those who showed little or no improvement. Those who experienced gains will either continue at the same pace for another 10 weeks or be released.
They hope to identify ways exercise can be tailored to different people so everyone can respond positively to it.
Miller said he would not be surprised if the study’s results confirm that regular workouts can protect against age-related diseases.
“It’s well established that diseases accumulate in aging adults, but what if we could slow the aging process to reduce or prevent the onset of those diseases?” Miller said. “No pill has more potential to do that than exercise.”