Exercise Pills: The Future of Fitness
Filed under Gyms and Fitness Centres
Imagine if popping a pill gave you the same health benefits as spinning, swimming, or running a marathon? It's the future of fitness, and it's not too far away, says a new study.
Published in Pharmacological Sciences journal , the research reported that exercise pills (so far only tested on mice) could be the trick to boosting muscle mass, improving energy use, and getting us fitter and stronger with less sweat and grind.
Why do we need exercise pills?
Ok, so obviously a workout does more than just improve our muscle strength. Keeping active is also proven to help with our heart health, mood, well-being, longevity, as well as enhance the health of all our bodily functions and systems.
One pill targeting the muscles doesn't mean we can do away with working out entirely, just yet.
But it could be a savior for people who can't exercise due to injury or disability.
Co-author of the study, Ismail Laher, was quoted in a body and soul article : For example, a pill for people with spinal cord injury could be very appealing given the difficulties that these individuals face in exercising due to paralysis in such patients, a large number of detrimental changes occur in cardiovascular and skeletal muscle function.
What's next?
Laher also points out that no exercise pill (at least for now) can provide all the benefits of an actual, real life workout. But he and the research team are excited about developing pills that could be combined with physical activity to provide greater results.