The long hours spent by people at the gym could soon be over and done with forever, as a recent breakthrough study appears to be on the verge of developing a gym-in-a-pill medication. This means that we must do nothing at all, just hang around, watch TV or other restful such actions, while the gym-in-a-pill drug does all the "physical effort" for us.

A group of more researching teams, including scientists at the Harvard University, at the Purdue University, Indiana and at the US pharmaceutical company Regeneron found that two genes in our bodies, the Atrogin1 and muRF1 genes, are vital for muscle activity.

The two genes were found to be extremely efficient against muscle wasting. The two genes proved to help muscles build up and keep them from being broken down in the body. Tests have only been conducted on mice so far, but scientists involved in the study announced they will be soon developing a workable therapy to be tested on humans.

Even if the aim of this breakthrough exhaustive research is to develop a medical treatment to help people who suffer from various and extremely painful diseases caused by muscle wastage, medical experts are concerned with the fact that this would also be inevitably tempting for athletes.

The gym-in-a-pill medication could also be extremely useful for astronauts, whose muscle mass reduces during long missions into space. NASA has already confirmed their interest in the new drug, according to BBC News.

However, the benefits of the "big muscles" pill will not extend to all the health benefits achieved through regular exercising. The drug will only keep people's muscles from wasting and toned, but nothing else.

"There are still many gaps to be filled in, but those in the field agree that the question is no longer if we can develop anti-wasting treatments, but when. As researchers close in on this target, excitement is mounting about exactly what such treatments could achieve.

Disease needs no longer lead to weakness, and broken bones would not mean long and painful physiotherapy sessions to rebuild muscle strength. And since loss of muscle mass is a major reason why we grow frail with age, an anti-wasting drug could keep older people on their feet and living independently for longer," pointed out researchers writing in the New Scientists magazine.