The idea that some people don’t respond to exercise might just be a myth

Everyone responds to exercise differently — if you take ten people and put them on the same workout routine for three weeks, some will improve dramatically, but others may not appear to have changed physiologically at all. In some cases, a few people may even appear less fit.

Previously, this led researchers to think that some people are “non-responders,” meaning exercise just doesn’t work for them.

But more and more research is starting to indicate that the whole “non-responders” idea is just a myth.

One recent study found that people who don’t become stronger or more fit from one type of training did respond to other types of workouts — some people respond better to long endurance workouts, others to sprints — but importantly, everyone responded to something.

Now a new study adds even more to the picture, though this one comes with some tough advice.

Everyone responds to training, according to research newly published in the Journal of Physiology, which we spotted in Alex Hutchinson’s Sweat Science column at Runner’s World. Some people just need to work out more to see results.

This particular study took 78 healthy adults and divided them into five groups, with each going through one, two, three, four, or five 60-minute workouts every week for six weeks. Most people who did only one workout each week didn’t become more fit because of the training, but there were also seeming “non-responders” in the groups that worked out two and three times per week.