Can genes predict athletic performance?

Can genes predict athletic performance?

ScientificAmerican.com


What if sideline rage could be nipped in the bud with a quick genetic test that told Mom and Dad what sports – if any – Junior could master? The Boulder, Colo., company Atlas Sports Genetics today began selling just that sort of product: for $149, it says it will screen for variants of the gene ACTN3, which in elite-level athletes is associated with the presence of the muscle protein alpha-actinin-3. The protein helps muscles contract powerfully at high speeds, which may explain why the combination of ACTN3 variants that produce it has been found in Olympic sprinters.


read the full article Here

Reminds me of the movie Gattaca.

Regardless, they'll still have to put in a great deal of effort and dedication to compete at the top.

Most will find the harder they train, the better their genetics get

PTC said:

Most will find the harder they train, the better their genetics get

Click to expand...

what does that mean ?

Max has been a runt his whole life. At 15,he was 50kg, short, weak. He had good endurance, not much speed. Always the smallest and weakest kid on any team he played with. He played rep basketball at age 8 in under 12's, plenty of talent, no presence.

You would never in a million years guess that less than 2 years later he would weigh 73.5kg (tonight) deadlift 200kg and squat 170kg.

Now everyone at PTC say he is just a freak, great genetics, how else do you slam 105kg overhead at that bodyweight if your not a genetic freak.

He hates me talking about him or posting up pics, but you shouldve seen him at 15, and compare now. He couldnt have has worse genetics you would say before he started lifting.

The harder he trains, the better his genetics get.

He quit representative basketball at age 14, he was too small and for the first time was dropped from the first team.

On Sunday he was playing, he missed a shot and the ball got wedged between the ring and backboard. He has teamates who are 200cm, Max is 173cm, guess who had to jump and flip the ball loose because nobody else on the court could reach it.

The kid who got dumped because he was so small.

The harder you train, the better your genetics get.

PTC said:

The harder you train, the better your genetics get.

Click to expand...

Rubbish!

The Harder you train, the more adapt your body becomes to handling those situations you have trained for, your genetics remain exactally the same...

Max just started with good genetics, and through training has been able to capitalise on his potential, some people find it eaiser than others.

Your "genetics" could only refer to your DNA structure which is specific to you or an identical twin from conception.

It can only be degraded or misreplicated forming a mutation that will 99.9% of the time inevitabley lead to a malfunction that will be detrimental to your well being. think various cancers, think genetic deformities....X men dont exist..

Some people can be born with a a genetic error that enhances growth hormone production, so you get bigger, and eventually die from it, or you end up with extra chromosomes, as a replication error, such as an xxy female so you produce more testosterone, or even have both bits..

Max Trains fn hard, has great guidence, and education, he must also have great determination and control..His efforts have been rewarded, Marcos you should be very proud, he is truely inspirational.

Your missing the point.

Far too many people complain that they have poor genetics. Its a cop out. By claiming you have poor genetics you get away from having to try.

Its like the term, the harder I train, the luckier I get. Its used by Golfers and Tennis players.

Its a generic term, people like to point at others and give a reason why they are better than themselves.

I think you missed the gist of it, never mind.

I have a pic somewhere of the greatest bodybuilder to grace planet Earth, Dorian Yates, before he touched weights, he was a wild skinhead in England, it was actually published in a book about violence in England.

Its an eye opener.

Enjoy

What do you reckon of his genetics pre working out?

I reckon his genetics got better through training.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

PTC said:

What do you reckon of his genetics pre working out?

I reckon his genetics got better through training.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Click to expand...

I think you need to change the way your trying to say it. I understand what your trying to say but genetics dont change. Ever.

In the first photo I would say he probably had good genetic to stay lean while building loads of muscle but at the time of the photo he probably never lifted a finger.

With my own genetics as an example, I could never be a competitive (natural atleast) bodybuilder as I am prone to put on fat easily although muscle as well, and at school in year 12 I weighed 120kg mostly fat, with loads of training 5 years later I won the 4X mountain bike national series at 78kg.
Although I still came 3rd at the BMX national championships in 18 men, the same year I was 120kg and I pretty much fainted when I crossed the line.

Now this as far as Im concerned has nothing to do with genetics but pure determination and hard work.

Genetics although can be a major limiting factor between 2 guys that have the same determination.

BMX has some naturally gifted genetic freaks lol, the type of people that hardly ever have to ride their bike or train in general but can pretty much do whatever they put their mind to and power out of starting gate at the same pace as someone that trains 7 days a week.

now that i know what PTC was trying to say after a bit of clarification, here's my take on it....

To me, no amount of training will ever alter your genetic make up. By no means am i disputing max's amazing transformation from cookie dough to made of stone &/or a machine. I just can't see how training could alter your genetic make up.

Somebody's genetic make up could give them a pretty good head start in life, but if they don't have the dedication, supervision & right resrouces they'll gain an average, or possibly slightly above results.

WIth that picture of Dorian yates, it's important also to understand the large amount of anabolic & androgenic assistance that he had received in that huge time gap. Please note I"m not assuming he didn't train hard, eat smart or any of the other activites that bodybuilders need to do to get into that type of shape.

On another note....the sports gene 'ACTN3' needs to be looked at directly. Here's what i pulled from Wikipedia

"ACTN3 is expressed in all skeletal muscle fibers (type i & type ii) whereas it (ACTN3) is expressed only in fast twitch fibers."

therefore those born with a larger amount of type ii muscle fibers are more geneticly gifted. Yes, it's unsure of if a non geneticly gifted athlete gains more fast twitch muscle fibers as he or she progresses through their career. It does point out the fact that some people do have better genes.

It's quite possible that max inherited this gene & it was somewhat dormat & is now in motion

it should also be noted that quitting or going soft because you feel your not geneticly gifted only makes you soft & a quitter. If you feel you don't have the right genetic make up to make a super star 100meter sprinter, for example...giving up just because of that is crazy. If you feel that your more competent at marathon running for example, then possibly considering a career in that is wise.

Don't forget 'DNA makes RNA makes performance

Labcoats say you cant, so people dont

Markos says you can, so people do

I got told that with a 7" wrist, the most it was possible to bench press was 300lbs tops, I got 363lbs

They say your upper arm measurement cant exceed your wrist circumference by more than 10", I got mine to 18.5"

When I severed my pec benchpressing, they said unless it was reattached I'd never bench 70kg again, I benched 150kg, its still unattached 13 years later.

After 30 years in the game, I'm no longer surprised by the limitations those with a weak constitution place on themselves.

Citing genetics, leverages blah blah blah.

You say you could never be a bodybuilder because you put on fat. Hello, have you heard about discipline. Do you know anything about how the body accumulates its fat cells and when.

Its not at birth. You accumulate fat because during your younger years you ate the wrong foods.

I really wish that weak f u c k s would stop blaming genetics and lose the woe is me attitude.

Heres a clue, dont eat another morsel of processed food for the next 12 months, train your whole body 3 times a week, increase the weights at regular intervals. Do some intense sprinting twice a week.

Report back in 12 months and tell us all about your genetics.

Jimmy was 100kg at 13. Jimmy was 130kg when he contacted me. Jimmy was always going to be fat. Jimmy got down to 90kg and squatted 160kg inside 12 months.

Sure some might have to work harder than others.

Genetics play more of a role in the mental side rather than the physical.

I can spot a quitter inside 15 minutes.

Theres only quitters and doers, not genetically blessed and throwbacks from the shallow end of the gene pool.

Feel free to sell yourself short, just dont expect me to do the same.

PTC's expression is a well worn one and valid.
Genetics is certainly a factor not just in the physical sense but also the emotional sense.
Look at Wayne Carey versus James Hird.
It obvious also thet some really need to work a lot harder than others.

It's always the big blokes that say "blaming genetics is a cop-out"
but for us small boned leverage challenged people it's a slog.
And many times it's the genetically challenged ones that see these people excell and think they can do the same.
But really you cannot learn the proper method for training a race horse, by asking the race horse.

The other thing that strikes me is if genetics was not a factor we would be able to train our entire life and continue to grow.
Imagine squatting and adding 2.5kg to the bar each session - well you'd be the size of an elephant.

Powerbuilder, aussieballer on here has known Max longer than most. Sean coached Max at basketball 5 years ago.

If when Max walked away I told Sean that Max would accomplish what he did, he wouldve laughed in my face.

Anybody can accomplih what Max has done, purely by doing what Max has done.

He doesnt know about genetics. He doesnt know about limits.

Heres a few reasons why some of you dont. Max has never used a lat pulldown, leg extension, leg press, leg curl, hack squat, smith machine, pec deck, cable crossover, seated row, prone row, calf raise. He has never done flyes, side laterals, preacher curls, concentration curls, incline press, decline press, kickbacks.

For nearly 2 years he has squatted, pulled and pressed, thats it. He hasnt been to an elite training facility. He hasnt trained at a super duper gym. He hasnt been surrounded by the best lifters, athletes and coaches. He has trained soley in a garage, with no mirrors.

He didnt know that not everybody trained like him, until a few of his mates started "lifting"

Are those the genetics your talking about.

Thank f u c k he didnt know whether he had fast twitch fibers or slow, and just did another set of squats.

I have a fat little kid just join up last week. He is fat and unathletic. He is on the school lawn bowls team because he cant make any other team.

I'll let you guys know how he progresses in a few months.

Some of you better get a giddy up

If there ever was or is a secret to bodybiulding PTC it's having a trainer like you pushing.
And supporting.

Silverback said:

The other thing that strikes me is if genetics was not a factor we would be able to train our entire life and continue to grow.
Imagine squatting and adding 2.5kg to the bar each session - well you'd be the size of an elephant.

Click to expand...

Thats not genetic limitations, thats physical limitations.

If one person could do that, then it would be genetic, if no body can, its physical.

How many men have squatted, deadlifted and benched 1000lbs....more than one?

PTC said:

Thats not genetic limitations, thats physical limitations

Click to expand...

I would have thought our gentetics determine everything, but who gives a f u c k, just get your dead ass under the bar and squat I say and not worry about it.

Silverback said:

But really you cannot learn the proper method for training a race horse, by asking the race horse.

Click to expand...

Good point.

I don't think there's such a thing as 'bad' genetics, Well, in fairness...the heritablity of passing on a disease or cancer is obviously BAD, but that's another topic. There are simply some people with a genetic profile more suited to athletics.

I'm up to some gene doping

click here to see a list of the NBA's top shortest players to prove that sometimes not having the height is benifitial

PTC said:

Thats not genetic limitations, thats physical limitations.

If one person could do that, then it would be genetic, if no body can, its physical.

How many men have squatted, deadlifted and benched 1000lbs....more than one?

Click to expand...

Paul Anderson made it look easy

dr ken liestner at 45 I think... weighing 74kg squats 190x23 as part of his workout, it's just what he did, he worked hard at it, see my point?

But there are no excuses, all you can do is work as hard as you can on the day.

It beats me how some people function normally on 4 hours sleep.