Individualize Your Gym Sessions with Genetics

Want to get the best out of your time at the gym? Find out if you are endurance or power-based to focus on the best training for you.

How you respond to different types of activity will depend on many factors, including your genetic makeup.

Everyone has different reasons for working out at the gym. For some, it may be to support health, such as improving cardiovascular function, lowering blood sugar levels, supporting bone and joint health, or supporting mental health. For others, it may be to manage body weight, either by losing some body fat or building lean muscle mass. But for most, it is to improve fitness levels that promote functional mobility, energy levels, or the ability to compete in an event.

 

Genetics plays a role in each of these scenarios. 

Fitness has many components, including cardiorespiratory fitness – which is how the heart and lungs deliver oxygen to the body’s muscles and organs during physical activity. This is typically referred to as VO2 max or training response. The higher your VO2 max, the more you can sustain activity for longer periods, and the better it is for your heart health. 

Research has demonstrated that genetic variation can explain up to 72% of the variability in VO2 max among individuals. This considers how oxygen is delivered to the muscles, how energy is being released, and how it can be used by muscles. Knowing which genes you have inherited will help you focus on the right kind of activities to improve your VO2 max.

Genetics can help explain how one responds to the type of training you do to improve endurance, strength, and speed. 

Regarding endurance, twin studies have shown that the heritability of endurance can account for up to 53% of the response and up to 72% of the power response. The genes that can be tested play a role in the type of muscle fibers an individual is likely to make, referred to as slow-twitch muscle for endurance and fast-twitch muscle for power and strength. 

Other aspects of endurance and power involve the capacity to generate aerobic energy for endurance-type exercise vs. anaerobic energy supply for power exercise. Genetic variants impact the ability to build muscle mass, the propensity to develop injuries, and how one recovers from training sessions.

Knowing which genes you have inherited will help ensure that you train according to your strengths while supporting your weaknesses.