The team found that mice could pass on the benefits of exercise – including improved muscle mass, lower body fat and stronger bones – through the genes.
By contrast, the offspring of inactive mice performed worse in running and strength tests.
“We demonstrate that offspring sired by exercise-trained fathers display intrinsic exercise adaptations and improved metabolic parameters compared with those sired by sedentary fathers.
“Paternal exercise provides a cost-effective route to improve offspring health,” the team wrote in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Metabolism on October 6.
The team, led by researchers from Nanjing University and Nanjing Medical University, also found that when they injected sperm microRNAs from exercised mice into normal fertilised eggs, the offspring reproduced traits that derived from exercise.
