Everyone knows that regular exercise is beneficial, especially as a means of staving off more deleterious conditions. But as therapy for existing problems, are certain types of exercise more useful than others? That was the question asked in a study conducted by Tahsin Khataei and recently published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. A member of Dr. Chris Benson’s lab, Khataei studied how high-intensity interval training (HIIT) modulated acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) in sensory pathways.

In their murine model, they found that a specific HIIT improved exercise performance by lowering certain ASICs, compared to both sedentary and low-intensity training mice. The study seems to suggest that the suppression reduced sensations of pain and fatigue in the HIIT mice, which could have potential benefits in physical therapy regimens as well as a possible mechanism to improve athletic performance in high-intensity sports. Dr. Khataei was invited to present these findings at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in Minneapolis earlier this month. The ACSM international meeting is the largest sports medicine conference each year, drawing more than 6,000 attendees.

Khataei’s study can be found here: https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2018/05001/Exercise_Training_Alters_Expression_of_Acid.2076.aspx