Short and vigorous exercise results in a cascading series of more than 1,000 molecular changes that influence everything from energy metabolism to insulin sensitivity. Scientists believe that their study will help to provide a ‘blueprint’ for developing a pill that can mimic workout. They said that an exercising pill could prove best for patients who cannot move or run, but will not be beneficial for those who can do manual workout.

Ismail Laher, a Prof. in the pharmacology and therapeutics department at the University of British Columbia, compared benefits of exercise pill with a vitamin supplement. He said that consuming exercise pill instead of going to the gym will not prove beneficial in any way. Fresh fruits and vegetables could be far much better than vitamin pills, but they are the next best thing for patients and stroke victims who cannot run or move in an intensive way.

People should not replace their routine exercises with the exercise pill. “Exercise requires your heart rate to go up, blood to flow faster, and you cannot do that with an exercise pill, but in particular groups, it's the next best thing”, said Laher. Researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, collectively analyzed human skeletal muscle biopsies from four healthy men after they went through high-intensity workout for 10 minutes.

They found that the exercise triggered more than 1,000 molecular changes in men with the help of a technique known as mass spectrometry. David James, a Prof. at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University Sydney, said that their team has found the key to unlock the riddle of drug treatments to mimic exercise. Though no trials have been conducted in humans so far, these substances have proved promising in cell culture and in animals, said Lehar.