Just three minutes of sprinting may produce a molecular response that looks very different from what happens after 90 minutes of moderate exercise.
Researchers at Rockefeller University compared how the body responds to exercise performed at different intensities. They found that six 30-second, all-out sprints changed nearly one-quarter of the proteins measured in the blood immediately after exercise. By comparison, 90 minutes of continuous moderate cycling altered less than one-quarter of one percent. Moderate treadmill running affected more proteins than cycling, but still far fewer than the brief sprint session.
Sprinting Triggers a Rapid Molecular Surge
The sprint workout also altered more than 200 metabolites and rapidly increased levels of proteins involved in blood vessel growth, tissue remodeling, and hormonal signaling.
Some of these proteins appeared to reach the bloodstream through a fast cell-signaling process called ectodomain shedding -- rather than being newly produced and released, pieces of proteins already located on the surface of cells were cut away and rapidly sent into circulation.
