Straight Talk on Genetics

The Sculptor and the Marble

At the heart of every fitness effort is the belief that a person has the ability to change themselves. The French scientist Alexis Carrel had a poetic way of summing up the difficulty of self-change:

“Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.”

Self-improvement activities are unique in that they use the power of the mind and body to change the very mind and body themselves. It truly is pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. This is why it’s so hard to do. It requires equal portions of determination and positivity: determination to keep going when things are hard, and positivity to know that the suffering is worth it and that it will pay off.

Why Trainers Can Be Shy About Getting into Genetics

It’s for this reason that personal trainers and fitness professionals often tiptoe around the topic of genetics. Training your body is all about focusing on things you can control — your nutrition, your muscle stimulation, your rest cycles, and your state of mind. Juggling all of that is hard enough. Worrying about your genetic profile is a distraction. It’s hard to understand, even harder to explain, and you can’t do anything about it anyway. And to top it off, dwelling on genetics can impact both your determination to keep going and your positivity that it’s all worth it.

I want to keep you positive and determined. So I need you to stick with me as we discuss this topic all the way through to the end. Even though there may be some bummer moments along the way, I promise you’ll feel more empowered and in control once all the facts are laid on the table!

Genes: The Building Blocks We Share

The word “gene” is just shorthand for the molecular constructions that determine how your body codes proteins. As a human, you have more than 20,000 of these genes. The majority of these genes are just the basic building blocks of life on Earth.

You and your cat share about 90% of the same genes.

You and a fruit fly buzzing around a banana share about 60%.

And you and that same banana share about 50% of your genes.

Our closest genetic cousin is the chimpanzee, with whom we share about 98% of the same DNA. It’s just that last 2% of difference that… well… makes all the difference!

When it comes to other humans, the genetic difference between you and any other person is, at the extreme, 0.5%, and usually much less. And yet, within that half a percent, we manage to make ourselves miserable.

It’s like the old joke about two men who meet by chance on vacation, discover they live in the same town, went to the same high school, have the same number of kids, and drive the same car — but one is a Catholic and the other a Protestant. “He’s an ok guy, but we don’t have much in common.”

When you compare yourself to someone else, you’re highlighting the tenth of a percent that differs between you. The problem is, as a species, we vastly overemphasize these minor differences.

For example, skin color is determined by a tiny fraction of your DNA — less than 0.1% — yet it’s been the source of endless conflict throughout human history.

(This ties into a core belief of mine — want to end racism, sexism, and fundamentalism? Teach kids science. But I digress.)

The Four Genetic Factors That Shape Your Physique

When it comes to your fitness and aesthetics, the gene expressions people care about most are:

1. Proportions

Your basic bone structure — how wide your hips and shoulders are, your height, the length of your limbs, the width of your ribcage, and even the shape of your skull.

2. Fat Storage Pattern

Everyone’s body has different coding for where it prefers to tuck away adipose tissue. It could be your midsection, hips, thighs, breasts, back of the arms, or under the chin.

3. Muscle Mass

Humans vary widely in how much muscle they naturally maintain, as well as how quickly they can add or lose muscle. (Fun fact: gorillas are about ten times stronger than the strongest human, all because of genetic coding. A gorilla has never done a bench press!)

4. Muscle Composition

There are two types of muscle fibers:

• Slow twitch (red, high-endurance, good for long-distance activities)

• Fast twitch (white, high-power, good for sprinting or lifting)

Your ratio of slow to fast twitch fibers is genetically determined. This influences how easily you build larger muscles or excel at endurance sports.

In fitness, these four factors have a huge impact — and there’s not a damn thing you can do to change them.

The Myth of the “Ideal” Body

Modern culture heavily favors a specific body type:

• Tall but not too tall

• Evenly spread fat storage for men

• Fat storage in hips and breasts (but nowhere else) for women

• Well-balanced muscle mass with a roughly equal mix of slow and fast twitch fibers.

If you have all those things, congratulations — you’ve won the genetic lottery for modern Western aesthetics.

(But remember, in Samoa you’d be a skinny freak, and in the Han Dynasty you’d be a hideous barbarian. Culture is fickle.)

If You Don’t Fit the Mold… Good.

Maybe you’re a too-short guy.

Maybe you’re a too-tall woman.

Maybe you have a lot of slow twitch muscle fibers when you wish you had more fast twitch (or vice versa).

You cannot change these things. You are not broken. You are you.

You have two options:

• Despair that you’ll never match the unrealistic ideal, or

• Delight in the body you have.

I recommend the latter.

Eating right and exercising won’t make you look like a model, but it will make you look like you, and that’s pretty awesome. Within all of us is a genetic blueprint for our body at its best. Low body fat, good muscle mass, strong hearts and lungs, and high performance. Your low body fat might never be the same as a naturally lean person, and that lean person’s muscle mass might never be as high as yours, but these things are inconsequential.

For better or for worse, you have the genes you do. All that matters is that you make the most of them. No one could ask any more of you.

Bodybuilders know this very well. I’ve often heard them casually say things like, “I reached my genetic potential at 32 years old.” The importance of good genetics isn’t a dirty secret on the bodybuilding circuit, which is why steroid abuse is so widely tolerated. The same is true for cycling. When everyone is eating perfectly, working as hard as they can, and giving their lives to a sport, the haphazard role of genetics becomes almost an insult. Good DNA? What an arbitrary, unfair way to select winners! At elite levels, hard work gets more respect than great genes.

Fortunately, none of us has to compete at these top levels, and we can bypass all the harm and extremism that goes along with living in that world. This means we can be happy doing the best we can with the genes we’ve got, no performance enhancers needed.

How to Make the Most of Your Genes

Here’s the good news: there’s a lot you can do to thrive with whatever genetic mix you’ve been dealt.

Step 1: Lower your body fat

A solid nutrition plan will make every kind of body look dramatically better. Getting lean is about what you eat.

Step 2: Exercise smart and exercise often

Workouts that bring strong, focused burns to target muscle groups will build muscle mass, no matter what your genetics. Your genes will determine the size and shape of that muscle, but only workouts will create it.

Step 3: Play to your strengths

Focus on what looks good on you. Instead of chasing what the current culture’s into, find your own thing.

• Ladies: Great arms but a “meh” midsection? Go sleeveless.

• Guys: Strong legs but weak chest? Get out the shorts!

Highlight your best features, minimize your weaker ones. It’s not about fooling anyone, it’s about knowing what works for you and feeling good in your own skin.

The Casino Metaphor: A Better Way to Think About Genetics

You’ve probably heard the analogy: “Genes are like a deck of cards. Play the hand you’re dealt.”

But that misses something important.

Yes, you’re dealt a genetic hand when you come into this world.

But you can also choose which game to play.

Maybe your hand isn’t ideal for poker — but it’s great for blackjack. Or maybe you’re not a casino person at all, and it’s perfect for bridge on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Similarly, in fitness, you get to choose activities that match your natural strengths:

Find the activities that match up well with your natural physical properties.

If you’re burly and full of fast twitch muscle don’t kill yourself in the marathon.

If you’re naturally lean and toned don’t get caught up the pursuit of bigger muscles, (men) or sexier curves (women).

The Takeaway

You’ll see your personal satisfaction skyrocket once you stop fighting your genes and start working with what you’ve got. A carpenter works with the grain of the wood. A master sculptor looks at a raw piece of marble and chooses a pose that gets the most out of the block of stone. You should do the same with the body you’re sitting in right now.

Your first task is to get your body fat down and muscle mass up. Your second task is finding a “look” and an activity that’s a nice match for the cards you’ve been dealt. The third task is to enjoy your wonderful, one-of-a-kind body, not despite its flaws, but because its flaws make you YOU!