We all know that working out can alter your physical appearance, but did you know that it can also alter your DNA?
A recent study published in the March 2012 issue of Cell Metabolism shows that high intensity exercise can change the chemical tagging of your DNA, activating genes responsible for burning lipids and glucose. In the study, researchers examined 14 participants before and after they rode to exhaustion on an exercise bike. The scientists then took thigh-muscle tissue samples of the riders and noticed that when participants worked out at high intensity (80% of their maximum aerobic capacity) there was a diminished presence of chemicals known as methyl groups. The disappearance of these methyl groups allowed other proteins – specifically proteins that support the metabolism of sugar and fat – to show themselves. The appearance of these proteins basically tells your body to go into fat-burning mode. However, when the participants exercised at low-intensity (40% of their maximum aerobic capacity), scientists detected more methyl than when they rode at high capacity.
The same researchers also found out that when those tissue samples were bathed in caffeine, the muscles could be tricked into thinking they had just been exercised and the same drop in methyl was detected. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean you can can trade in your gym membership for a Starbucks gift card. (The amount of coffee you’d need to drink to replicate these results would have to be between 50 to 100 cups a day!)
So what can the average gym goer take from this study? Most important is the effect that high-intensity exercise has on your body. The study showed that all you need is at least 35 minutes of high-intensity exercise to reap these benefits. So the next time you hit the gym or the treadmill, remember that with a little more drive you could be doing good for your body both externally and internally.