Scientists Creating Exercise Pill To Give You A Workout In A Bottle

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- What if your doctor could prescribe a pill that would actually make your body exercise, without ever having to break a sweat?

Basically, it would be a workout in a bottle.

That will soon be a reality, according to new research and an article published in this months Trends in Pharmacological Sciences titled, "Exercise Pills: At the Starting Line."

"An exercise pill would do what exercise regularly does to muscle," says co-author Ismail Laher, of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

A lot happens during a workout. The heart rate goes up; the body sweats. But now, scientists have learned that, within the first 10 minutes of exercise, nearly 1000 changes take place on a molecular level in the muscle. Their study was published in the current issue of Cell Metabolism.

An exercise pill would mimic those effects.

Laher says if you're already in shape, the pay-off could be considerable.

"If you exercise and take this pill that mimics exercise, you will get faster muscle, stronger muscle, and have greater endurance," he says.

He adds the real beneficiaries would be those who cannot exercise.

"If you are paralyzed, have a stroke, have a spinal cord injury, and are unable to exercise, this is a really good standby."

Leher reminds us that exercise also effects bone strength, insulin sensitivity and cognitive abilities. An exercise pill would only scratch the surface of what the body really needs.

The article ends on a positive note as to whether doctor will someday be able to prescribe a healthy workout in a bottle.

"Remarkably… exercise pills are still at the starting line and have a long road ahead before they gain clinical application. However, we expect that as we gain an improved understanding of the molecular mechanism by which exercise induces beneficial effects, we will likely gain increased confidence in creating exercise pills that have minimal side effects with much improved efficacy."