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Could genes be to blame for a lack of motivation to hit the gym? A recent study conducted at the University of Missouri suggests this could be the case.
By studying a population of rats over ten generations, researchers came to the conclusion that there is such a thing as a genetic predisposition to laziness, at least among rodents. The study was conducted by Franck W. Booth and Michael D. Roberts of the University of Missouri's College of Veterinary Medicine and the results were published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Physiology.
Around 50 rats were placed in cages with running wheels. Over a period of six days, researchers recorded the amount of time each rat spent willingly running on its wheel. The rats were then separated into two breeding groups, so that the 26 most active rats bred only amongst themselves, and the 26 least active bred only with each other. The process was then repeated over ten generations.
At the end of the experiment, the researchers observed that the rodents from the "super runners" line willingly ran 10 times longer per day on average than those from the "couch potato" line.
To find which traits predisposed the active rats to working up a sweat, the researchers looked at several factors, including body composition and mitochondria content in muscle cells. But the most significant difference between the two populations was in their genes.
"Out of more than 17,000 different genes in one part of the brain, we identified 36 genes that may play a role in predisposition to physical activity motivation," Roberts noted.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether such a gene exists in humans and how crucial it might be in determining our willingness to engage in physical activity.
While it certainly doesn't hold true for everyone, looking back, all the real lazy and I mean REAL lazy people I have known most of their family - at least immediate family were indeed lazy. I had a roommate that was and he didn't last long but he'd just come in, take his clothes off and throw them on the living room floor and never pick them up and he gained lots of weight. I met his mother and grandparents a few times at their houses and without fail they were all very obese and had hardly worked in their lives and their houses were filthy. I also knew others in a similar situation. Again, not all but laziness being genetic could certainly help to explain those families where hardly anyone works and if they have to ALWAYS complain.
I don't think it's genetic as much as it's a learned behavior.
I remember the first couple of roommates I had in college, just filthy. Something I couldn't get over was leaving bowls of cereal milk out in the open FOREVER. By forever, I mean they still wouldn't have picked it up by now, 10 years later. They expected it to either vanish magically or have you clean it up for them.
Stuff like this just blew my mind... how can you 1. be so lazy and inconsiderate and 2. not be bothered by that filth in your own home?
After having 7-8 roomies throughout college, I realized the laziness came from two types: Those with lazy parents who lived in the same disgusting, sub-human way-- and children of overbearing parents. They were always told to clean up after themselves completely right now, and never learned to take care of themselves without constant direction.
As far as the rat study, that was just selectively breeding the fastest rats. So many other factors at play than just "laziness." If there is a genetic predisposition to laziness, it is not significant in humans. It's just a product of other health issues.
I always read scientific research studies with a questioning eye.
First, is what they are looking at really "laziness"? All they found was that there seems to be a genetic component to having a preference for non-goal-directed physical activity. Does this imply that you are "lazy" if you simply do not prefer to engage in physical activity that has no apparent goal? Did they think to look at goal-directed physical activity? Like not just rats running on a wheel but doing something physical to get a piece of food as a reward? I know a lot of people who don't care to "work out" but who are very physically active, doing things that have a purpose (other than just "being in shape").
Second, we all might define "laziness" differently. I define it as people who sit back passively and don't do things that are necessary (cleaning the house, paying bills on time, doing tasks at work, getting an oil change when it's due, etc). I see non-goal-directed exercise as a good thing, but not necessary. So I am most certainly not a "lazy" person by my definition. I'm a diligent worker (sometimes workaholic) and always complete necessary tasks early or on-time, and I meet all my responsibilities. I see shirkers as lazy. Other people, like those who wrote the linked article, seem to define laziness differently. If I see someone who chooses to go to the gym every day while blowing off class, work, household maintenance tasks, financial obligations, and other responsibilities, I see a "lazy" person. The authors of the article would see a non-lazy person.
So if I look at people I know, now I can ask, are those people similar to their families with regard to each definition of "laziness"?
With my definition of laziness (passively not attending to responsibilities) I see a lot of lazy people who were raised by non-lazy parents. The parents worked hard, attended to all responsibilities, set a good example for their kids, but ended up with passive kids (who become adults) who don't make an effort to be responsible. Some of those parents might have done so much for their kids that the kids were shielded from learning to step up and be responsible. If they had parents bail them out of trouble, or get them out of a punishment from the school, or if they rewarded them without requiring any chores, very unlazy parents could end up with a very lazy kid.
My parents were always both very hard-working, very focused on paying bills on time, not incurring a lot of debt, taking care of responsibilities, having a clean and organized house, and doing things early to avoid a rush at a due-date, and I ended up the same way. My sister, who grew up in the same household, and who also has the same amount of genetic influences from the same two people, is "lazy" in my book. She does have a very clean and organized house, but she's never held a full time job for any length of time, she has her husband to make all the money and do all the household maintenance, she overspends, and pays things late.
I know people who were raised by very lazy parents, according to my definition. Many of them ended up similarly lazy and irresponsible. But at least two ended up totally the opposite--very diligent workers and responsible people who actively tried to be different from their deadbeat parents.
I find all that much more interesting than looking at people who go to a gym vs those who don't.
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I have to say no, based on my family with 8 siblings, and only 2 having been what one could call lazy and/or irresponsible. I will also add that being overweight does not always mean the person is lazy, it can be that the person is active and gets a lot of exercise but eats more calories than they burn. Look at some of the NFL linesmen.
I have found that the younger siblings are more inclined to be lazy. Maybe its because their older siblings are filling in for their parents when they are not around (in school, home). Older siblings are always watching out, guiding & to some extent spoon feeding them so the younger siblings don't learn how to deal with problems on their own. They are used to being looked after & it gives them a sense of security. This leads to the illusion that life is easy as there will always be someone to help them out & they don't need to work too hard to accomplish something. They get used to things being handed over to them. Its parents' job to make sure they don't have this false sense of security that leads to laziness.
I agree also that is a learned behavior. Too many things are blamed on genetics these days. I doubt if you go back a few generations if the relatives were lazy because truly, if you didn't work, you didn't eat.
I think what could help people become less lazy is when they have dreams that they want to accomplish. I strongly feel if someone wants to be a doctor, city planner, etc. and really feel interested and motivated in that, they will work hard to get there. IMO, sometimes lazy people are lazy because they are just discouraged and maybe have the "what's the point if I work hard anyway?" type of mentality.
While it certainly doesn't hold true for everyone, looking back, all the real lazy and I mean REAL lazy people I have known most of their family - at least immediate family were indeed lazy. I had a roommate that was and he didn't last long but he'd just come in, take his clothes off and throw them on the living room floor and never pick them up and he gained lots of weight. I met his mother and grandparents a few times at their houses and without fail they were all very obese and had hardly worked in their lives and their houses were filthy. I also knew others in a similar situation. Again, not all but laziness being genetic could certainly help to explain those families where hardly anyone works and if they have to ALWAYS complain.
Very interesting.
I think depression can often be mistaken for laziness as the person loses motivation for anything and just wants to lay around and escape life. Until there is a way to separate depression genes from "laziness" genes, I don't think we can draw an automatic conclusion. In looking at a person's life from the outside, you can't know if they are lazy or genetically just prone to chronic low-grade depression, which would result in less energy. I believe this could also be the case in the mice.
I believe people who use the word lazy are also lazy, too lazy to spell out the longer, more descriptive word: un-motivated!
I believe we all have, given the opportunities, laziness tendencies, and there's any number of reasons we don't give in to those tendencies, like losing your job, for one, feeling guilty about it, image consciousness, and some people are born wired/restless, who can't sit still for one minute, and who deeply envy lazy people, as they know, they'll never be able to accomplish that. Thus, hating lazy people!
I hate lazy people because I'm not wired to be lazy and how I wish I could be! If I could only once lay down on the couch and watch a movie, from beginning to start, what a lazy victory that would be!
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If I could only once lay down on the couch and watch a movie, from beginning to start, what a lazy victory that would be!
