Improve Your Workouts with DNA: Power vs. Endurance Training
By Marla Feingold
Men who wonder why their workout isn’t giving them the best results compared to others may benefit from finding out more about their genetics. Men and the world of exercise are often driven to hard high-intensity training and weightlifting routines seen as a more masculine way to build muscle and power and workout.
But what if we know genetically a man is more likely to see more benefits in endurance training over power, or sprinting over endurance? Men may also wonder why they’re working out harder and “not” seeing losing weight benefits too.
It’s likely about your genetics, but that should not be your roadblock. Genetics contribute up to 70% of how we respond to exercise and how quickly we can improve our fitness. It is what makes us respond differently to different types of exercise and the way we build and maintain our muscle mass.
The 3X4 Genetic Blueprint gives insight into personalized benefits and challenges with healthy weight, power, and endurance production.
Genetic markers will help us detect specific reasons for susceptibility to problems with Testosterone production and metabolism which can impact the ability to build muscle, improve strength, and our training response.
The 3X4 Blueprint can help men determine what types of exercise and activities they may have the most optimal response to, for example, “Power vs Endurance” activities.
The 3X4 Genetic Blueprint test uses many different genes to help determine what type of impact different types of exercise “Power and Endurance” may respond best to. Different genes work together to help determine if you may have a better muscle output, and energy production in shorter, faster, or longer types of exercise.
For example, when there are a lot of genes impacting the ability to do “Power” exercise. Examples of these are CKM (Muscle-Specific Creatin Kinase), and Alpha AKTN3 (Alpha Actinin 3), or what I like to call the “Sprinter Genes”.
They show increased potential and beneficial response to Power productive activities such as sprinting, heavy weights, HIIT Training, and Tabata, with increased ability for building muscle. Individuals with the beneficial ACVR1 gene will find it easier to build muscle and strength. 
For “low power responders” the 3X4 Blueprint offers tips on how to adapt exercises for the best results.
High “endurance-responders” who may have genes such as ACE (Angiotensinogen 1 Converting Enzyme) and NRF2 (Nuclear Respiratory Factor 2) may have a faster improvement in VO2max which means that you are likely to respond significantly faster to training in response to aerobic exercise.
3X4 offers recommendations to support individuals with lower Endurance responses to build up their aerobic capabilities and improve their endurance capacity and capabilities.
3X4 Genetics also assesses your “Exercise Response” to fat burning during exercise. If you have wondered why the harder, you work the less you burn it may be your genetic response to exercise and fat burning.
For example, variants in thermal “heat” fat-burning genes such as ADRBs (Beta Androgenic Receptor) genes in the 3X4 Genetic test impact the ability to access and mobilize fat-burning for energy release during exercise.
Variants in this gene may blunt fat burning during intensive exercise and lower the metabolic rate. Knowing your personalized genetic response to exercise for fat burning and weight loss will help you customize exercise, duration, and intensity to best support weight goals.