For all of us who are kind of lazy or simply do not find the necessary time to exercise the solution might come sooner than we expect in the name of two magic pills that seem to mimic the effects of exercising by tricking our muscles into working, reducing the fat and giving back our bodies.

The effect of the miraculous pills was discovered four years ago by Professor Ronald Evans at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in La Jolla and his colleagues.

The pills, labeled AICAR and GW1516, were tested on lab mice, but scientists believe that one day humans could also benefit from their “slimy” effect. They also believe the pills will help those people too frail to exercise and also those having health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart-disease that are improved with exercise.

When tested on mice, the pills appeared to burn fat, retain muscle mass and increase endurance during exercise.

"By genetically tuning up the muscle [with this drug] you can dramatically bypass exercise," said Evans.

However, the last effect was of particular concern for the scientists as lots of athletes would try to get their hands on the pills to boost their result. The situation is more serious as with the Beijing Olympics approaching. But, Prof. Evans has already provided the World Anti-Doping Agency with blood and urine tests especially designed to detect whether an athlete has taken the drugs or not. The tests were made with money from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The World Anti-Doping Agency is already preparing a list of forbidden substances for the International Olympic Committee, which, this year, would contain the two pills as well.

“Thanks to the much appreciated cooperation of Ron Evans and his team at the Salk Institute, WADA received key information in advance in order to develop and implement ways to detect these molecules,” a statement issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency said.

Whether the pills are effective and safe in humans is not known, but the scientists are already preparing trials to accomplish this task. As for mice, there appeared to be no serious side effects.