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Are 3 minutes of sprints better than 90 minutes of cycling?

In a study published in 2026 in Cell Reports Medicine, six 30-second sprints on a bike changed 714 of the 2,884 proteins measured in the blood, compared with 7 after 90 minutes of easy cycling. This shows that intensity changes the messages sent through the body, not that 3 minutes make you healthier than 90.

Follow the blood of both groups, from the resting blood draw to 3 hours later, then see what this blood does to fat cells.

Protein going upProtein going downProtein that does not changeNamed protein

Olsen et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2026: 10 men sprinting, 9 cycling at a moderate pace, blood drawn before, right after and 3 h after.

More active geneLess active geneGene that changesGene that also changes in the other testProtein changed or released

Steps 1 to 6: in humans (human cells, then belly and thigh of volunteers). Step 7: mouse muscle cells. Olsen et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2026.

33 proteins linked to less obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic disorders UK Biobank: blood proteins of 53,026 people, compared with their diseases 32 of 33 changed by the sprints

Level of evidence: statistical link in humans. A protein that is higher in healthy people does not prove that raising it protects.

So, are 3 minutes worth 90 minutes?

Short answer: the study does not say. It looks at the blood for 3 hours after a single session, not at health months later. And "3 minutes" is the time spent at full effort: with the 4 minutes of rest between sprints, the session lasts about 23 minutes.

Details: trials lasting several weeks already compare the two ways of training. In one of them, inactive men did 3 sessions a week for 12 weeks: 9 did very short sprints (3 times 20 seconds all out, 10-minute sessions), 10 did 50-minute sessions at a moderate pace, and 6 changed nothing. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) rose 19% in both training groups, and insulin sensitivity improved in a similar way, with 5 times less time for the sprints (Gillen, 2016).

Why does a sprint put so many proteins into the blood?

Short answer: we do not know yet. The authors suggest a lead: some of them may be cut off at the surface of cells, then travel into the blood.

Details: they see several metalloproteases rise, the enzymes that make these cuts, but their measurement cannot tell a cut protein from a whole one. During exercise, adrenaline rises from 1.5 to more than 20 times its resting level (Zouhal, 2008; see the page on a workout). The authors do not yet know which organ each protein comes from: this is a limitation they state themselves (Olsen, 2026).

What is the "first lactate threshold" pace?

Short answer: the speed at which lactate starts to rise in the blood. You can still talk in full sentences. In the study, moderate cycling is done at 90 to 100% of this pace (Olsen, 2026).

What do large population studies show?

Short answer: the WHO suggests 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix of both: one vigorous minute counts roughly as two moderate minutes (Bull, 2020).

Details: in the UK Biobank, 25,241 people who do not exercise wore a wrist sensor. Those who had 3 short bursts of vigorous effort a day in everyday life (walking very fast, climbing stairs), 1 to 2 minutes each, had a 38 to 40% lower risk of death over about 7 years than those who had none (Stamatakis, 2022). This too is a link, not proof.

What are the limitations of this study?

Good to know: this page explains what a study measured in the blood after two cycling sessions. It does not say which sport to do and does not replace a doctor's advice.

Frequently asked questions about sprints and moderate cycling

How long does the study's sprint session really last?

About 23 minutes, not counting the warm-up: six 30-second sprints separated by 4 minutes of rest. The time spent all out is 3 minutes (Olsen, 2026).

Does moderate cycling need 90 minutes to change anything?

In the study, moderate cycling changes few proteins right after (7), but its effects come later: 3 hours later, 183 small molecules in the blood had changed, mostly fats released to serve as fuel (Olsen, 2026).

Do these 714 proteins stay high?

No. Three hours after the sprints, only 45 are still changed, 16 times fewer. It is a peak, not a lasting state (Olsen, 2026).

What time of day, and should you be fasting?

This study does not say: the sessions took place in the morning, after a breakfast given 3 hours before the first samples (Botella, 2025). Other work shows that performance in a short, intense effort is lowest early in the morning and highest in the late afternoon (Chtourou and Souissi, 2012). In 11 men with type 2 diabetes, two weeks of high-intensity interval training in the afternoon lowered blood sugar, while the same training in the morning raised it (Savikj, 2019). None of these studies compares sprints done fasting and after a meal.

Do women respond the same way?

This study cannot tell: the main comparison includes only men. The running group had 2 women out of 9, too few to draw a conclusion (Olsen, 2026).

See also

What happens in the body during and after exercise? How many reps should you do in strength training? Why do my muscles get sore after a workout?

Sources

  1. Botella J, Perri E, Caruana NJ, et al. Sprint interval exercise disrupts mitochondrial ultrastructure driving a unique mitochondrial stress response and remodelling in men. Nat Commun. 2025;17:71. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-66625-8
  2. Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S, et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med. 2020;54(24):1451-1462. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
  3. Chtourou H, Souissi N. The effect of training at a specific time of day: a review. J Strength Cond Res. 2012;26(7):1984-2005. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e31825770a7
  4. Gillen JB, Martin BJ, MacInnis MJ, et al. Twelve weeks of sprint interval training improves indices of cardiometabolic health similar to traditional endurance training despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment. PLoS One. 2016;11(4):e0154075. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154075
  5. Olsen L, Botella J, Barrows D, et al. Exercise intensity modulates interorgan communication and is associated with cardiometabolic health outcomes in humans. Cell Rep Med. 2026;7(9):102988. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.102988 (full text: Europe PMC)
  6. Patwari P, Chutkow WA, Cummings K, et al. Thioredoxin-independent regulation of metabolism by the alpha-arrestin proteins. J Biol Chem. 2009;284(37):24996-25003. doi:10.1074/jbc.M109.018093
  7. Savikj M, Gabriel BM, Alm PS, et al. Afternoon exercise is more efficacious than morning exercise at improving blood glucose levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomised crossover trial. Diabetologia. 2019;62(2):233-237. doi:10.1007/s00125-018-4767-z
  8. Stamatakis E, Ahmadi MN, Gill JMR, et al. Association of wearable device-measured vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity with mortality. Nat Med. 2022;28(12):2521-2529. doi:10.1038/s41591-022-02100-x
  9. UniProt. PDK4, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (human), entry Q16654. uniprot.org
  10. Zouhal H, Jacob C, Delamarche P, Gratas-Delamarche A. Catecholamines and the effects of exercise, training and gender. Sports Med. 2008;38(5):401-423. doi:10.2165/00007256-200838050-00004

True or false?

The study shows that 3 minutes of sprints protect against diabetes better than 90 minutes of cycling.

False. It measures the blood for 3 hours after one session. The link with diabetes comes from another database (UK Biobank), where some proteins go along with less disease, which does not prove that they protect (Olsen, 2026).

The study's sprint session lasts more than 20 minutes.

True. Six 30-second sprints and five 4-minute breaks add up to about 23 minutes. The 3 minutes are the time spent all out (Olsen, 2026).

Three hours later, moderate cycling had changed more small molecules in the blood than at the end of the session.

True. 31 right after, 183 three hours later, mostly fats (Olsen, 2026).

The steps as text

The texts shown during the animation, to read without it.

  1. Before: 2,884 proteins at rest
    Blood is drawn from 19 young men who are active and healthy. In the plasma, the liquid part of the blood, 2,884 proteins are measured at once: each dot is one of them. Then 10 of them do sprints on a bike and 9 cycle at a moderate pace.
  2. During: 3 minutes all out versus 90 easy minutes
    On the left, six 30-second sprints all out, with 4 minutes of rest between each: 3 minutes of effort, about 23 minutes of session. On the right, 90 minutes nonstop at the first lactate threshold pace, where lactate is just starting to rise and you can still talk.
  3. Right after: 714 versus 7
    At the end of the session, 714 of the 2,884 proteins had changed after the sprints, almost all upward (more than 98%). After 90 minutes of moderate cycling: 7. For the small molecules in the blood (acids, sugars, fats), 203 change after the sprints, 31 after cycling.
  4. Where do these proteins come from?
    They include proteins already known to rise during exercise: growth hormone (GH1), a blood vessel protein (VWF), TIMP3 and FABP5, which carries fats. Which organ does each one come from? We do not know yet. The authors' lead: some may be cut off at the surface of cells by scissor-like enzymes, the metalloproteases, which rise too.
  5. 3 hours later: moderate cycling wakes up
    After the sprints, only 45 proteins are still changed, 16 times fewer than at the end of the session. Moderate cycling now has 19, including IGFBP1 from the liver and PLIN1 from fat tissue. Its changed small molecules go from 31 to 183: mostly fats released to serve as fuel. Those of the sprints remain numerous (199).
  6. And 2 hours of running?
    Another group: 9 trained runners (7 men, 2 women) run for 2 hours at 60% of their VO2max. Right after, 111 of 2,787 proteins had changed: more than after moderate cycling, far fewer than after the sprints. These are not the same people: the comparison remains rough.
  1. The plasma is kept right after the session
    Right after each session, the plasma, the liquid part of the blood, is kept from 5 to 6 participants. It contains what the body has just released into it: the 714 proteins changed after the sprints, or the 7 from moderate cycling, and the small molecules (203 versus 31).
  2. It is poured onto fat cells
    This plasma is poured onto human fat cells grown in a dish. These are real cells that store fat in one large droplet, but away from the body: from one dish to the next, only the plasma changes. We wait 3 hours.
  3. 3 hours later: 1,677 genes versus 25
    Next, we read which genes the cell made more active or less active. With the plasma from after the sprints: 1,128 genes more active and 549 less active. With the plasma from after moderate cycling: 14 and 11. Sprint blood carries a message that fat picks up, even away from the body.
  4. Which genes change the most?
    Among the genes the authors mention: TXNIP and ARRDC4, which slow the entry of sugar into fat cells, and PDK4, which slows the use of sugar as fuel and leaves more room for fats. This is the response of a cell that has just received an exercise signal, not yet a change in weight.
  5. And in a real belly?
    In 9 other people, men and women, a little fat is taken from under the belly skin before and 3 hours after a treadmill test that gets harder and harder, until they cannot go on. 2,600 genes changed, 418 of which also change in the dish with the sprint plasma. It is not the same session, but it is an intense effort, in a real body.
  6. And in muscle? There, the two look alike
    A small piece of thigh muscle is taken before and 3 hours after each session. We count the genes for proteins made to leave the cell: 111 change after the sprints, 140 after moderate cycling, and 81 are the same. Muscle responds to both sessions: the big difference shows up in the blood.
  7. A last test, on mouse muscle cells in a dish, made to contract with small electrical pulses: six 30-second bursts with 4-minute breaks, like the sprints, or 1 hour at a slow rhythm, like moderate cycling. The bursts release 212 proteins, the gentle pace 9. The authors warn that the bursts may damage cells and make proteins leak out.

Other texts from the animation

  • And muscle cells that are made to work?
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To cite this page in a paper, an article or a presentation:

Metabolive. "Are 3 minutes of sprints better than 90 minutes of cycling?" Updated November 12, 2026. https://metabolive.com/en/effort-stress/sprint-vs-cycling.