Exercise is good for everyone, but it doesn’t affect us all in the same ways: some people might see boosts in levels of endurance, while others benefit from better blood sugar levels. Now scientists think they may have discovered one of the reasons why.
In a new study, 654 adults with a mostly sedentary lifestyle were put through a 20-week endurance exercise program, while the levels of around 5,000 different proteins in their blood were analyzed from samples.
The researchers identified hundreds of proteins corresponding to someone’s ‘trainability’, or how well they’re going to respond to exercise – findings that could lead to more personalized and effective training regimes, as well as help experts to tackle disease.
“While groups as a whole benefit from exercise, the variability in responses between any two individuals undergoing the very same exercise regimen is actually quite striking,” says Robert Gerszten, chief of cardiovascular medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).