Female Fitness Blog

Hate to Exercise? Pop a Pill!

Submitted by Fit and Female Blog

A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time — pills or stairs - Joan Welsh

Geez, maybe I could have used this on Wednesday…

I know I’ve quoted Cher before (I mean who doesn’t really?) when she said famously in an 80’s Bally’s commercial, “If it came in bottle, everyone would have a great body“.   Well, apparently science is working on making that very thing happen!

This week  Cell published research from the Salk Institute in which mice given a chemical substance (PPARβ/δ agonist) increased their muscle cells aerobic capacity and increased their aerobic endurance — even without doing any exercise.  Yup…coach potato mice were able to increase their aerobic endurance a whopping 44% without even putting down the Doritos and Budweiser.

The researchers say that they hope that by manipulating the chemical pathways that control the benefits of exercise, they may be able to help people with serious health problems (such as diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory issues) — even when they are unable (or unwilling) to workout.

Conceptually, I think this is great!  However, as a practical matter I think that:

1) It is HIGHLY unlikely that a pill (or even a pile of pills) will ever be able to give people the many and varied benefits that come from working out (see below).

2) File this one under “it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” (okay… so I’ve quoted 2 TV commercials in one blog…think I watched a little too much TV in my youth?  For extra credit what product was that commerical for?) But there is no doubt in my mind that there will be some serious, nasty and unexpected side effects when we try manipulating these pathways, long-term in humans. 

3) You know there will be tons of athletes (and assorted idiots) who will be abusing this substance in pursuit of enhanced performance and/or physical perfection.

The fact is, most people can do some form of exercise.  Even if its just a daily 20-minute walk broken up into four 5-minute segments.  Moreover, as a drug exercise is probably the safest and most powerful substance known to mankind.  Here are just a partial list of some of the known benefits of regular exercise with more and more being unveiled every day.

• Improves lean body tissue
• Reduces body fat
• Improves cardiovascular function
• Improves respiratory function
• Improves the body’s ability to use blood sugar
• Strengthens muscles and tendons
• Strengthens bones
• Increases flexibility of muscles
• Improves mobility of the joints
• Increases nutrient supply to the joints
• Reduces the risk of some cancers
• Reduces the risk of age-related cognitive impairments
• Improves balance and coordination
• Reduces the risk of falls
• Reduces mild to moderate depression
• Improves sleep patterns
• Improves posture
• Increases self-esteem

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