One of the key steps towards a healthy life is keeping up with one’s ideal body weight. Your body’s metabolism has a role to play here, and your height also has a say in what your goal weight should be.
Now, losing weight later in life isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Sure, trimming fat can help your heart, boost your mobility, and improve your overall health, but there’s a tradeoff most people forget to factor in: muscle loss.
As we age, muscle doesn’t just keep us strong — it helps with balance, independence, and quality of life. Lose too much, and suddenly you’re more likely to fall, become frail, or develop chronic illnesses.
But here’s the twist: researchers might have found a way to break this cycle.
A new study reveals that, among several workout routines tested on older adults, only high-intensity interval training (HIIT) consistently reduced body fat while largely preserving muscle mass. That’s a big deal, considering one of the biggest challenges in aging well is learning how to lose fat without speeding up muscle loss.
Before we delve into the study and what it outlines, let’s first understand why muscles really matter, especially when you age.