Lifting weights? Running? Biking? Just working out? In addition to losing a few pounds and staying in shape, you are also changing your genetic code! Research in the field of epigenetics, or how gene expression can be changed, has shown that gene expression can be altered with exercise.1
"We can’t change the genetic code that our parents gave us, but we can change the way we use it. By exercising we can play with the genetic code. And everyone has the potential to switch the desire for exercise on and off." Romain Barres
“Now we know that the muscles’ DNA is modified chemically when we’re physically active,” says Romain Barres, assistant professor at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Integrative Physiology, University of Copenhagen.
He found that exercise activates the genes (turned them on) in muscles that prepare them for movement, strength, and energy. When he biopsied muscle tissue before and after exercise, he found chemical changes in genes that code for strength and energy changes. These changes in muscle are needed during movement and exercise. In other words, exercise begets exercise on the genetic level.
This is just another example of how the body is highly adaptable to its environment. However, once the exercise is over, the genes are turned back off again. I think regular exercise probably up regulates the genes more efficiently and trains a better muscle response.
1. Romain Barrès, etal.Acute Exercise Remodels Promoter Methylation in Human Skeletal Muscle. Cell Metabolism, Volume 15, Issue 3, 405-411, 7 March 2012
He found that exercise activates the genes (turned them on) in muscles that prepare them for movement, strength, and energy. When he biopsied muscle tissue before and after exercise, he found chemical changes in genes that code for strength and energy changes. These changes in muscle are needed during movement and exercise. In other words, exercise begets exercise on the genetic level.
This is just another example of how the body is highly adaptable to its environment. However, once the exercise is over, the genes are turned back off again. I think regular exercise probably up regulates the genes more efficiently and trains a better muscle response.
1. Romain Barrès, etal.Acute Exercise Remodels Promoter Methylation in Human Skeletal Muscle. Cell Metabolism, Volume 15, Issue 3, 405-411, 7 March 2012
RSS Feed