This guy thinks 'lazy' people should take drugs to motivate them to exercise

Supplied: Professor Samuele Marcora from the University of Kent
Supplied: Professor Samuele Marcora from the University of Kent
Taking synthetic stimulants might be the key to helping you get off the couch long enough to actually do some exercise, you lazy sloth.

This treatment, described as "doping for lazy people", could encourage physically inactive people to stick to their fitness regimes, according endurance expert Professor Samuele Marcora from the University of Kent. 

Marcora argues that perception of effort is one of the chief factors why many people opt for sedentary activity in their down time — it's considered easier to watch TV than go for a walk.

However, reducing effort perception through the use of drugs with wakefulness-promoting agents, like those used to treat sleep disorders, may help to override people's lazy tendencies enough to partake in some moderate exercise.

While his views may seem pretty out there, Marcora points out there isn't any strong ethical opposition to the use of medications to help quit smoking (nicotine) or treat obesity (appetite suppressants). 

But he believes negative perceptions and unrelated ethical factors tied to performance-enhancing drugs in sport may stand in the way of them being used to effectively treat physical inactivity.

Because sedentary lifestyles are the cause of twice as many deaths as obesity, Marcora hopes his recommendations around psychopharmacological treatment for inactive people will be taken seriously.