Exercise is Medicine. How Exercise Signals Health Responses

Most studies find a dose-response relationship between exercise participation and all-cause mortality. In contrast, physical inactivity and consequent overweight or obese status is associated with a cadre of health consequences. Frequently, comorbidities of obesity are mechanistically linked via chronic low grade inflammation stemming from increases in adiposity. Although exercise is known to combat obesity and obesity related disease states, the mechanisms of action are not fully understood. Therefore, the investigators propose the following study in an attempt to elucidate anti- and pro-inflammatory endocrine responses to exercise. Initial studies in animal models have provided evidence that exercise induces long-term anti-inflammatory effects, potentially via myokine signaling following skeletal muscle activation. Humans are an ideal study population as the investigators can prescribe multiple exercise protocols that mimic human behavior, and control exercise intensity to meet recommendations. Also, humans allow the investigators to collect larger plasma samples and therefore measure more circulating proteins of interest over multiple time-points. Finally, the investigators can select individuals that exercise at different frequencies, allowing the investigators to analyze the differences in endocrine responses to exercise over differing levels of fitness. In summary, a human model will allow for a much better understanding of the human condition.