Research Shows, Life Isn't Fair

This just doesn't seem fair.

Direct from the annals of Research That Is Really Not That Helpful, in 2010 a study established that some people are genetically predisposed to respond more quickly than others to exercise.

The findings mean that two different people who do the exact same physical training may progress in their fitness at different rates.

This is, in short, a crock. A sham. A bamboozle. The fact that my fitness at any given time is a direct reflection of the amount of work I've put into it is a truism that has always both frustrated and driven me. 

But now it turns out that my truism is not, technically, true. Based on my physical makeup, the work I put in may or may not have the impact it would have on someone else.

A company called XRGenomics has devised a test that can determine how likely you are to respond to aerobic training. The test's predictive power is tied to the genetic marker that determines your VO2 max, which is the volume of oxygen that your body is capable of processing in a given period of time. The higher your VO2 max, the better you'll do with aerobic exercise.  

So the question is- would you want to know? 

The test makers point out that, if you knew that you were not so blessed genetically for aerobic activity, you could focus your fitness efforts on something like strength training instead. Alternatively, just knowing the fact that it was going to take you a little longer than average to build up aerobic capacity might save you from giving up prematurely if you failed to see results as quickly as your peers.

But I don't know- I feel like, if I knew going into it that I was only going get 75% of results that my counterpart was going to get for the same work, I would be disheartened. 

Maybe Obama can get a Lily Ledbetter Act for my alveoli on the agenda for a second term.

Want to read more? Are You Likely To Respond to Physical Exercise, by Gretchen Reynolds, NYTimes. October 10, 2012.