ReviewThe Journal of physiology2021
Mimicking exercise: what matters most and where to next?
Review in The Journal of physiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrating Klotho as an emerging exerkine.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- All Is Relative-A Call for Considering "Physiologically Informed" Control Conditions to Improve the Mechanistic Understanding of the Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognition.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2026Review
- Exercise-induced hippocampal miR-212/132 expression is preserved despite psychostimulant exposure and viral infection.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- A phlorotannin-rich seaweed extract activates AMPK/PGC-1α signaling and antioxidant defences in skeletal muscle cells.In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal · 2026Article
- Muscle movement and metabolism: exercise and skeletal muscle as mediators of health-a report from the 26th Annual Harvard Nutrition Obesity Symposium, 2025.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Article
- Exercise pills for cardiometabolic health cannot mimic the exercise milieu.Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM · 2026Review
- High-intensity interval and moderate-intensity continuous training on cerebral energy metabolism in older rats.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Sex- and skeletal muscle-specific gene expression response of histone 3 lysine 27-modifying enzymes by voluntary running in mice.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Sex differences in IL-6 responses to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise are explained by cycling power output.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Mechanoreceptor-mediated adaptations to physical exercise: from acute responses to long-term training effects.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Review
- Resveratrol Mimics Exercise-Induced Metabolic Stress to Suppress CIP2A and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in 3D Renal Carcinoma Spheroids.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Enviromimetics: From exercise mimetics to cognitomimetics in the quest for enhanced brain health and cognition.The Journal of physiology · 2026Review
- Gerontology lost in translation from demography to biology of aging and back.Biogerontology · 2026Review
- The impact of exercise on protein levels in Drosophila melanogaster.Biology open · 2026Article
- Exercise Impacts Liver Disease: Balancing Metabolic and Immune Homeostasis.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Review
- Kidney betaine: A potential broad spectrum exercise mimetic against aging.Journal of sport and health science · 2025Article
- Biomarkers of aging: from molecules and surrogates to physiology and function.Physiological reviews · 2025Review
- Bridging the gap: Integrating exercise mimicry into chronic disease management through suppressing chronic inflammation.Journal of advanced research · 2025Review
- Celecoxib Enhances Oxidative Muscle Fibre Formation and Improves Muscle Functions Through Prokr1 Activation in Mice.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The past decade has witnessed growing scientific and commercial interest in the identification of bioactive oral compounds that mimic or potentiate the effects of exercise, so-called 'exercise pills' or 'exercise mimetics.' These compounds have, to date, typically targeted skeletal muscle in an attempt to stimulate some of the adaptations to exercise induced by endurance training. Accordingly, they fail to impart many of the broad health protecting effects of exercise that are seen in tissues and organs other than skeletal muscle. In the context that multiple integrative regulatory and often redundant pathways have evolved to detect and respond to human movement, here we consider the complex challenges of designing a pill that might mimic the extensive range of exercise benefits. In particular, we consider the limits of the current 'myocentric' paradigm given the wide-ranging array of impacts that exercise exerts on atherosclerosis and the cardiovascular system. We discuss the validity and limitations of the concept that low dose cardiovascular polypills, already in large scale trials, may represent one form of cardiovascular exercise mimetic. Finally, given that some calls for an exercise pill stem from a response to the perceived failure of expert advice, evidence-based guidelines and current public health approaches, we explore possible strategies that might address the global rise in inactivity. In the event that a broad spectrum exercise mimetic might ever be developed, we discuss some generic issues related to adoption and adherence of therapeutic interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.