By John Litteral 12-11-22

THE ROLE OF GENETICS

Every one of us has been born with a genetic potential when it comes to strength and muscle mass, aerobic fitness, fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers, whether your muscles are better at endurance or sprinting, height, etc. That is why it is very common to find two people who begin to train at the same time, who train just as hard as the other, and for one to develop faster in certain types of training than the other person, even though they are training the very same way. I have seen the role of genetics many times myself up close and personal throughout the years. Most people are not born with elite level genetics for bodybuilding and powerlifting. I have personally known only a couple of people who are anomalies, but I have seen a large spectrum of people with different genetic potential throughout the years.

One anomaly that I have personally seen is professional bodybuilder Johnathan “Tee Tee” Johnson. I knew him before he became a bodybuilder. He was born with the kind of genetics that allowed him to excel in athletics far beyond his peers. I remember when he got into weight training and how quickly his body responded. He looked like a bodybuilder before he got serious about bodybuilding. I remember seeing him eat snack cakes and his diet was far off, and he was still chiseled. But once he became disciplined, I saw him excel to levels that I had never seen anyone else excel at before. For those rare people like Johnathan Johnson with phenomenal genetics, when they add hard work and discipline to their regimens, they can develop physiques like him. But for almost everyone else, they will not be able to build a physique like that no matter what they do.

Our genetics are out of our control. But what we do have control of, is the ability to reach our genetic potential. Consistency with hard work and discipline in our training and dieting will help us reach our maximum potential. But we also need to understand the importance of proper techniques and various techniques that will help us break through plateaus and maximize gains. As mentioned in a recent article, periodization training and full muscle development training are a couple of techniques that are very effective. There are other techniques that will help break plateaus and push one to another level. Check out all the articles on the HOME PAGE for more information on the other techniques that will help you reach your genetic potential.