High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to Reduce Frailty and Enhance Resilience in Older Veterans

Frailty is defined as a greater susceptibility to stressors resulting from age-related impairments in adaptive biological systems. Frailty leads to poorer physical performance and functional capacity and higher risk of adverse outcomes including falls, hospitalization, and mortality. Resilience, defined as the capacity to recover from disruptions to homeostasis, is critical to successful aging because it precedes frailty and enhances adults' ability to maintain optimal health and function well into older age. Evidence- based therapies to help older adults enhance resilience are limited and the biological underpinnings contributing to improved resilience have not yet been fully characterized. To address this important need, the investigators will conduct a clinical trial to examine the benefits of center- and home-based high intensity interval training (HIIT) on functional capacity, frailty, and resilience, and also to identify novel biomarkers of resilience in older Veterans.

Inclusion Criteria:Ages 60 yearsMale and female, any raceMedically cleared for exerciseNon-frail or pre-frail (frailty score < 3)Exclusion Criteria:Severe co-morbidity: COPD (GOLD stage IV), CKD ( stage 3)), severe HTN (180 mmHg/120 mmHg)VA-SLUMS score 20 (Cognition)