Molecular secret behind short, intense exercise revealed

A new study has revealed that activation of a single protein known as CRTC2 that there is something molecularly distinctive about short and intense exercise.

The scientists were able to show that following high-intensity exercise, which enlists the sympathetic nervous system's "fight or flight" response, CRTC2 integrates signals from two different pathways; the adrenaline pathway and the calcium pathway, to direct muscle adaptation and growth only in the contracting muscle.

Michael Conkright, PhD said that the sympathetic nervous system gets turned on during intense exercise, but it was earlier believed that it wasn't specific enough to drive precise adaptations in exercised muscle but the findings suggests that it not only does target those specific muscles, but it also improves them.

He further explained that they are now searching for molecular therapeutics that will activate the CRTC2 protein so that even an average exercise routine could potentially be enhanced and made more beneficial.

The study is published in The EMBO Journal.