don't feel like exercising? it may come down to smell

exercise is essential for physical and mental health, notes sachiko haga-yamanaka, an assistant professor of molecular, cell and systems biology at the university of california, riverside (ucr) and lead researcher of the study, published in the journal plos one .

“some people like to exercise more than others do, but why this is so is not well understood,”she said in a press statement .

haga-yamanaka and her team focused on the mice’s vomeronasal organ , which is the sense of smell organ in amphibians and most mammals. the vomeronasal organ detects pheromones — chemicals released into the environment that trigger a reaction in those who receive them.

previous research from 2014 out of the university of wisconsin found that regular exercise was associated with a reduced risk of developing an olfactory impairment, or a decline in sense of smell, in older adults.

the motivation to exercise and the body’s response to training likely also has a genetic component, research has found, highlighting the fact that humans have variation in things like physical activity levels, cardiovascular and metabolic responses to acute exercise and responsiveness to regular exercise programs.

other research suggests you can influence your genes through health and lifestyle choices .

but there are also factors outside of genes that affect exercise motivation and ability. income, socioeconomic status, education, gender, age, race and ethnicity have all been reported to “influence physical activity levels, either positively or negatively,” a 2013 study out of the university of alabama at birmingham found .