Understanding the variation in exercise responses to guide personalized physical activity prescriptions

Area of Science:

• Exercise physiology
• Molecular biology
• Personalized medicine

Background:

• Individual responses to exercise vary significantly, hindering personalized prescription.
• Understanding these variations is crucial for optimizing health outcomes.
• Molecular and mechanistic factors play a key role in exercise response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review extrinsic and intrinsic factors influencing exercise response variability.
• To examine molecular transducers of exercise and their impact on physiological outcomes.
• To identify challenges in developing personalized exercise prescriptions.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of molecular and mechanistic factors affecting exercise response.
• Analysis of extrinsic factors (e.g., diet, sleep, medication).
• Analysis of intrinsic factors (e.g., genetics, sex, age, race/ethnicity).

Main Results:

• Extrinsic factors like exercise timing, diet, and sleep impact exercise response.
• Intrinsic factors including genetics, sex, and age are integral to variability.
• Molecular pathways (genomic, proteomic, metabolomic) mediate exercise effects.

Conclusions:

• Developing personalized exercise prescriptions requires a comprehensive understanding of response variability.
• The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) addresses knowledge gaps.
• Further research is needed across diverse populations and health outcomes.