The X Factor
Genotyping may signal a new era in custom-built workout programs, but in the meantime, looking at your neighbor’s greener grass won’t help
Ever wonder why some people seem to lose fat and/or gain muscle with relative ease while some others only lose time and money trying to do the same?
Actually, that was a rhetorical question. I know that you’ve wondered about it and maybe even felt annoyed by it. I know I have. It can be downright disheartening.
It would be easy to look at the less successful of the bunch and toss them into the lazy bin or say that they just ‘don’t want it bad enough’.
There are exceptions to nearly every rule, but usually the less successful counterparts to the super champs aren’t lazy or lack ambition.
In my own experience, I find that it comes down to knowledge. Without this, chances are you’re going to waste your time. Of course, one can fly by the seat of their pants – but only for so long before natural law takes over.
There’s also this other small, yet powerful detail.
How many times have you heard someone comment about somebody else to the tune of “oh that’s just good genes”?
Reason or convenient excuse?
I’ve heard the “good genes/bad genes” comments countless times. It’s tempting to believe it too when you’re exerting so much effort on exercise and eating right and you see someone who looks and performs far better than you. Oh, and they’re also never passing up an offer of fattening snacks.
In the past, I considered myself genetically disadvantaged to the fitness superstars and sometimes even used that as a kind of excuse to take it easier as genetics are hard to fight. I mean, if some people have the “X factor” and I don’t, I might as well kick it back a bit and reach for the cookie jar, no?
Well, rather surprisingly, there’s some ‘no’ and some ‘yes’ in that attitude (but keep the lid on the cookie jar for now).
Do these genes look good on me?
At this point in time, it goes without saying that we know our genetic make up plays an important role in our body composition and the things we do to affect it one way or the other.
But based on the results of a recent study (and I'm talking last month kind of recent), our genes have a bigger impact on our efforts to improve physically than we've thought before.
You can see the full text of this study here, but below is a quick synopsis:
According to this study, done by the Cambridge Centre for Sport & Exercise Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University in England, genes can explain up to 72% of the difference in results between people after specific exercises.
Seventy two percent!
The study was conducted with 3,000 people aged 18-55 and measured muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness, and anaerobic power (what we produce most commonly during intense weight lifting).
Lead author Henry Chung states:
"Because everyone's genetic make-up is different, our bodies respond slightly differently to the same exercises. Therefore, it should be possible to improve the effectiveness of an exercise regime by identifying someone's genotype and then tailoring a specific training programme just for them.”
Oh, so that’s it? All we have to do is map out someone’s genotype to custom-design an exercise routine? I’m sensing a serious business opportunity for some savvy personal trainers and gyms coming soon!
From a less cynical point of view though, this could eventually level the playing field quite a bit, and that is good news. The bad news is that it most likely won’t happen for a while.
But, based on this study, it would seem that the statement “oh that’s just good genes” might be true after all! We now have scientific evidence that some of us have what it takes to get stronger and leaner while others doing the same thing just don’t get the same rewards and well, life’s too short for this struggle, so about that cookie jar…
Not fair to compare
Not so fast.
The results of this study don’t mean that those of us who may be genetically ‘disadvantaged’ when it comes to exercise performance should just throw in the towel. In any and every situation, our focus should only be on the possible: to be the best we can be for ourselves as individuals.
Even though from a bird’s eye view we humans are the same; to compare yourself to others directly can spell downfall. There are quite literally countless processes on and below our surface working around the clock to keep us alive, healthy and able to feel the gamut of human existence. As much as they are generally the same, they can give us unique features – both good and not so great.
The gene study mentioned earlier is just one example, and a very convincing one at that. But even as solutions based on it start to pop up in the future, there may be other components in our immensely complex bodies that can still spell comparative disadvantage.
Everyone experiences this 'being human' thing in different, often very unique ways. So what would make success in any chosen endeavor that's generated by individuals any different?
I know how trite this sounds, but we really should celebrate what makes us unique in the same way that we tend to celebrate what brings us together.
The bottom line
Don't worry about the people you may see at work or at the gym or on social media who seem to be 'ahead' of you in whatever it is you're measuring. They have their reality and you have yours.
Until we get to the point that Mr. Chung from the ARU study mentions where we match a training program to a person’s genotype (and make it widely available), all we have is what we can attain.
Maybe these findings will set into motion an eventual leveling of the playing field between the less and more genetically fortunate, but in the meantime I choose to believe there actually is no playing field at all.
Let’s just call it my very own patch of grass where it’s always green enough, thank you very much.
Until next time,
Give yourself a pat on the back for what you can achieve with what you’ve got!
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