Some people benefit less from exercise than others

[Guest guest]

[The following article is from the BBC. But in a similar article on The

Times Online at

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1383925,00.html , the editors

for The Times chose a downright false title: " How working out at the gym

could make you unhealthy " ]

 

[one thing that doesn't seem to be mentioned is the initial status of

these people relative to their genetic potential - some people are

already quite fit and they just can't get any 'fitter' - everyone has a

natural limit, that is, a limit to which they can't exceed without

resorting to performance-enhancing drugs. Most of us just don't have the

genetics of olympians].

 

Exercise 'may benefit some less'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4059695.stm

 

UK experts say people should still exercise

There may be an explanation for why those gym workouts seem not to have

any effect - US experts suggest some people benefit less from exercise.

 

Louisiana University researchers put 742 people through a strenuous

20-week endurance training programme.

 

Measures such as oxygen consumption improved in some, but not in others,

New Scientist magazine revealed.

 

UK sports experts said people did differ - and that was why they should

have tailored exercise programmes.

 

The researchers selected the volunteers from 213 families,

 

None of the participants had undertaken regular physical activity for

the previous six months.

 

All were asked to use exercise bikes. By the last six weeks of the

study, they were exercising for 50 minutes, three times a week, at 75%

of the maximum output they were capable of before the study.

 

Differences

 

Previous research had suggested that people do vary in their

" trainability " - how much improvement is likely to be seen after an

exercise regime.

 

In this study, the researchers found training improved maximum oxygen

consumption, a measure of a person's ability to perform well, by an

average of 17%.

 

But the most " trainable " participants improved by 40% - and the least

showed no improvement at all.

 

Similar patterns were seen when other fitness measures such as cardiac

output, blood pressure, heart rate were checked.

 

When the researchers looked at insulin resistance, a marker of risk for

heart disease and diabetes, they found it had improved in 58% of

participants following the exercise regime but stayed the same, or even

fell, in 42%.

 

The team also compared the eight who showed the highest improvement in

insulin sensitivity and the eight who had least.

 

The study was presented to the Australian Health and Medical Research

Congress in Sydney.

 

Claude Bouchard, who led the research, said: " There is an astounding

variation in the response to exercise.

 

" The vast majority will benefit in some way, but there will be a

minority who will not benefit at all. "

 

Kathryn North of the Institute of Neuromuscular Research at the

Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, said: " It's negative, but it's

true. Some people slog away and don't get any improvement. "

 

Mark Hargreaves, of Deakin University, Melbourne, added: " We need to

recognise that, although on average exercise may have clear benefits, it

may not work for everyone.

 

" Some people may do better to change their diet. "

 

But Sam Howells, senior sports physiologist at Lilleshall Sports Injury

and Human Performance Centre, said: " It would be worrying if these

findings deterred people from exercising.

 

" What this study shows is that everyone is unique.

 

" That's why fitness programmes should be tailored to an individual's needs.

 

" But everyone should do something to try to stay fit. "