fig4

Figure 4. Aerobic exercise for improving CV health with aging - alternative strategies. Regular aerobic exercise is the most well-established lifestyle intervention (solid line) for improving cardiovascular function with aging. Despite this, many midlife and older adults do not meet physical activity guidelines, leading to a biomedical research need to develop alternative interventions (dashed lines) such as “time-efficient” physical training [i.e., high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and inspiratory muscle strength training] and “exercise-inspired” interventions (i.e., passive heat therapy). In addition, more research needs to be done to determine the role of sex hormones (i.e., estrogen) in mediating the aerobic exercise-induced improvements in endothelial function.