EXERCISE! UNLOCKING THE FUTURE OF DISEASE PREVENTION!
Exercise Reprograms the Body at a Molecular Level —
Unlocking the Future of Disease Prevention
For decades, we’ve known that regular exercise builds strength, improves cardiovascular health, and boosts mood. But groundbreaking new research reveals that the benefits of movement go much deeper. Exercise doesn’t just strengthen the body — it reprograms it, reshaping molecular pathways that govern how our cells function, repair, and communicate.
A comprehensive paper published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology by ACU researchers Professor John Hawley and Dr. Nolan Hoffman summarizes 20 years of scientific progress in understanding how exercise changes human metabolism at the molecular level. Their findings uncover how physical activity triggers complex biological networks that can transform health outcomes and redefine the role of exercise in medicine.
Exercise as a Biological Intervention
Professor John Hawley, a global leader in exercise bioenergetics and director of ACU’s Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, explains that exercise acts as a “biological intervention,” capable of influencing health as powerfully as many medications.
“Exercise is not just about physical performance — it’s a powerful biological intervention that impacts our health at the deepest molecular level,” said Professor Hawley.
“For chronic conditions like heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, these findings point to a future where exercise is integrated into healthcare as preventive medicine.”
Two Decades of Molecular Mapping
Dr. Hoffman and Professor Hawley reviewed two decades of advancements made possible through cutting-edge molecular biology and omics technologies. These innovations have helped scientists trace how exercise influences thousands of molecules, from genes and proteins to metabolites, across different exercise types such as endurance and strength training.
“Twenty years ago, we knew exercise was good for metabolic health, but we didn’t understand the intricate molecular networks behind it,” Dr. Hoffman noted.
“Now, we’re beginning to map these blueprints, revealing how movement activates specific molecular signatures that contribute to better health.”
How Exercise Reshapes the Body’s Molecular Networks
The researchers highlighted several key studies showing how exercise affects both skeletal muscle and the bloodstream.
Exercise triggers cascades of gene and protein activity, orchestrates metabolic and immune systems, and releases molecular “packages” that communicate with other organs. These discoveries show that the benefits of exercise ripple far beyond muscle contraction — influencing nearly every biological system in the body.
Toward Personalized Exercise Medicine
The next frontier is personalization. Scientists hope to use molecular biomarkers to predict how individuals respond to exercise based on their genetic and metabolic profiles. This could pave the way for precision exercise prescriptions designed to prevent or manage diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions.
At ACU’s Melbourne campus, researchers are using state-of-the-art facilities — including the southern hemisphere’s only human metabolic chamber — to measure energy expenditure and metabolic responses with unprecedented precision.
Reference:
“Twenty years of progress in human exercise metabolism research” by John A. Hawley and Nolan J. Hoffman, Nature Reviews Endocrinology, September 9, 2025.
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