Exercise Nonresponders” May Benefit From Changing Exercise Routines, Study Suggests.

reports so-called “nonresponders” may benefit from “switching to another” exercise routine, according to a study published in PLOS One. The article explains that past research has found that nonresponders do not benefit from certain exercise routines, but researchers found in the new study that nonresponders may benefit from different exercise routines. The study suggests that if a person is not benefiting from an exercise routine, then switching to another one may be beneficial. http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/well/move/is-your-workout-not-working-maybe-youre-a-non-responder.html The studies showed that, on aggregate, endurance training increased people’s endurance. But when the researchers examined individual outcomes, the variations were staggering. Some people had improved their endurance by as much as 100 percent, while others had actually become less fit, even though they were following the same workout routine. Age, sex and ethnicity had not mattered, the researchers noted. Young people and old had been outliers, as had women and men, black volunteers and white. Interestingly, nonresponse to endurance training ran in families, the researchers discovered, suggesting that genetics probably plays a significant role in how people’s bodies react to exercise. About a third of the people had failed to show much if any improvement in one of the measures of fitness after three weeks of endurance training. Similarly, about a third had not improved their fitness much with interval training. And after each type of workout, some participants were found to be in worse shape. Those who had shown little response to endurance training generally showed a robust improvement after the interval sessions, and vice versa. The question is how to determine which form of exercise best fits you. The answer, Dr. Gurd says, is simple trial and error. Before beginning a new exercise routine, he says, measure your fitness. You can do this by briskly walking up several flights of stairs or quickly stepping onto and off a box three or four times. Then check your pulse. This is your baseline number. Now start working out. Walk. Jog. Attend interval training or spin classes. After about a month, Dr. Gurd says, repeat the stair or step test. Your pulse rate should be slower now. Your workout sessions should also be feeling easier. If not, you may be a nonresponder to your current exercise routine. In that case, switch things up, Dr. Gurd recommends. If you have primarily been walking, maybe try sprinting up a few flights of stairs and walking back down, which is a simple form of interval training.