When we start working out, we usually do it for ourselves: to look better, feel better, or protect our long-term health. But what if your workouts had generational benefits? A new study published in Cell Metabolism suggests that a father’s exercise habits may influence his future children’s fitness and metabolic health before they’re even born.
In the study, researchers put male mice through an endurance-training program and then bred them. Their offspring, who had never trained a day in their life, showed surprising advantages. They could run farther, had better energy utilization, and were more resilient to metabolic stress compared with the offspring of sedentary fathers. Basically, they seemed to be biologically primed for better endurance and performance.
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Researchers analyzed the fathers’ sperm and found that exercise altered the small RNAs inside them. When researchers injected a single exercise-elevated microRNA into embryos from sedentary fathers, their offspring developed the same endurance and metabolic advantages as those born to trained fathers.
While the study was done in mice, it opens up an interesting conversation about whether human fathers could pass on similar benefits. Previous research already shows that children of active parents are three to four times more likely to be active themselves. Now, this study raises the possibility that exercise could also give future children a head start in fitness.
Like father, like son, as they say. If you needed another reason to stay consistent with training, there you have it.
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