Bidirectional Link Between Exercise and the Gut Microbiota

Exercise exerts beneficial effects on the gut microbiota; however, recent evidence suggests that an intact gut microbiota is necessary for exercise tolerance. Exercise is well known to exert beneficial changes to the gut microbiota. An emerging area is how the gut microbiota may regulate exercise tolerance. This review will summarize the current evidence on how exercise influences gut microbial communities, with emphasis on how disruptions or depletion of an intact gut microbiota impacts exercise tolerance as well as future directions.