Exercise Is Probably a Hopeless Waste of Your Time Or Worse

In fact, exercise might even be bad for you. No kidding, we're talking about science here.

Recently, researchers in Finland made the discovery that some people’s bodies do not respond as expected to weight training, others don’t respond to endurance exercise and, in some lamentable cases, some don’t respond to either. In other words, there are those who just do not become fitter or stronger, no matter what exercise they undertake.

[...]

In the combined strength-and-endurance-exercise program, the volunteers’ physiological improvement ranged from a negative 8 percent (meaning they became 8 percent less fit) to a positive 42 percent. The results were similar in the groups that undertook only strength or only endurance training. Some improved their strength enormously, some not at all. Others became aerobically fitter but not stronger, while still others showed no improvements in either area. Only a fortunate few became both fitter and more buff.

Did you catch that? After 21 weeks of grueling exercise, some participants in the study became eight percent less fit. Working out actually made them weaker. Only "a fortunate few" saw improvement in all areas of fitness. So sit your ass back on the couch if you know what's good for you and tell your pilates instructor to go to hell.

[NYT]