This may seem counterintuitive, but researchers say the difference is shown in people\u2019s blood<\/a> – so less, can really mean more.<\/p>\n Nearly 20 healthy men who ran 30-second sprints over the course of one 23-minute session had more molecules in their bloodstream tied to improvements in muscle, liver, intestinal, immune and organ health than men who rode bikes for 90 minutes.<\/p>\n Blood samples showed that moderate treadmill running led to fewer of these molecules in the blood than the 30-second sprints.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s exciting here is that just a few minutes of intense exercise can trigger a significant molecular response,\u201d cardiologist Dr. Paul Cohen, who leads the molecular metabolism lab at New York\u2019s Rockefeller University, said in a statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd we still see it after eight weeks of training, which tells us this response isn\u2019t simply a product of the body struggling to keep up with unfamiliar stress. It may be that the responses we observed are intrinsic to intense exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers drew blood before the workout, during, immediately after the workout and three hours later. <\/p>\n The samples indicated that there was an immediate surge in levels of more than 700 proteins that lower the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in the men who sprinted, researchers found. <\/p>\n But only seven such proteins changed in the blood of the bike-riding men during the activity – and only a dozen more changed after three hours.<\/p>\n The findings add to scientists\u2019 understanding of how exercise is tied to improvements in health. <\/p>\n Researchers have long made the connection between the two – but exactly how exercise helps people to live longer and stave off deadly disease has yet to be pinned down.<\/p>\n The study indicates that exercise changes the body, but not all intensities are equal. However, women were not included in the study and it was relatively small. Future research with a wider pool of participants could shed more light on how widely applicable the findings are.<\/p>\n![\"It\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2158797018.jpeg\")
It\u2019s long been known that exercise can improve overall health. New research reveals that the kind of exercise matters more than we knew (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Women](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-854755136.jpeg\")
Women were not included in this study but future research could look into wider groups of athletes and the effects of high-intensity exercise on their blood (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n