Genetics Play a big role in Progress????

[Welsh power house]

Genetics play a massive role in what you can get out of lifting weights, dieting and supplements/drugs ect...

There are genetic limitations that apply to most people, there is a general rule that you can only get you're upper arms 10-11 inches bigger than the measurement of your wrists.

ectomorphs(skinny guys) can spend their whole life lifting, eating the right way, resting, taking muscletech's supplements by the bucket load but wont look better than a genetically gifted mesomorph(buff guys).
Same goes for the endomorph(fat guys), they will find it hard to loose body fat and to gain lean muscle.

Basically a typical mesomorph is the guy you see who eats an average diet, lifts weights once every 4-6 weeks and has 200lbs of lean mass to show for it. It comes down to muscle fibre ratios and scientific bullshit that i wont babble on about.
Mesomorphs are just lucky bastards!

I think that most ectomorphs train to gain weight, but fail to due to the fact that they train like an extreme mesomorph like ronnie coleman and end up the exact way they started out...100lbs of skin and bone!
Stick to the basics, i say it all the time, for the average skinny guy, basics rule.....you WILL GAIN THE MOST WEIGHT OF YOUR LIFE if you do squats, bench press, deadlifts, shoulder press and chins or rows(combined with a simple diet)
Most of you will think that is not enough to stimulate muscular growth, that is where you are very wrong, the above 'compound' lifts are the best for stimulating the body into an anabolic environment and also create a huge appetite.
I used to be your average ecto, i lifted 4-5 days a week and it did nothing for me, i started doing two sessions a week and i really started growing.
Remember you dont grow in the gym, you grow when you are resting, taking into account that you eat like a horse(5-7 meals a day) and dont go avoiding a bit off chicken because it has a trace of fat on it, you need the calories! Stuff all the supplements, most dont work...food is the best!
The only supplements that work are protein/weight gain powder, creatine and multi vitamin supplements...and when i mean work, i dont mean feeling the pump because you have started to use some new GABA formula or any shite like that, i mean supplements that help you gain strength and mass.
Food is the ultimate growth tool, when combined with a simple, compound training plan.

Genetics can and will limit what you can do, so dont go comparing yourself to ronnie coleman or even that massive guy down the gym, just try to keep adding weight to your lifts and eating 5-7 meals a day...hopefully you will grow!

 

[Enock]

More than genetics Is still your training and your diet.

95% of the people in the gym don't make good progress is because they don't have the will power for a good diet and training regimen.

They can have the training down cold does nothing w/o a good diet and vice versa.

And of course if your training is at 80% and diet is at 80% your not getting 80% of your total potention your getting 80% of 80% which is only 64%.

Just lacking a little bit in one area or another really hurts you and thats why most people do not make the great changes something is off it takes alot of will power to be at 100%/100%

 

[teslet]

Genetics will play a role in things like your:

- Slow/Fast twitch muscle fibre ratio, but most people have about 50% slow-twitch and 50% fast-twitch fibres in their muscles, according to Physiology; training does not change the fibre ratio. But by your way of training you decide which fibres you accustom your neuromuscular system to train more.

- Your physique and Muscle Hypertrophy: The basic size of your muscles is determined by genetics and testosterone levels (which is why men have larger muscles than women). But by training your muscles can become 30-60% more hypertrophied, and there are every day things you can do to increase your testosterone naturally.

- Your metabolism: Genetics can dictate 40 to 70% of how your metabolism operates, but by adding muscle or fat you change this. Aerobics is what reduces fat in the short term, anaerobics is what reduces the fat in the long term.

- Body Composition and Fat: Genetics will determine things like fat distribution, etc. But your body composition is something that can be changed even if you are genetically predisposed to be fat. By your life style and eating habits you decide what you are.

- Muscle Fibre Density: Muscle fibre density is by definition the amount of fibres that are packed within a given volume of muscle tissue. This is what can makes other person's muscles appear more thicker, fuller than yours.

- Strength: Genetics determines your muscle belly and limb length which in turn, say...you have short limbs will have the advantage of increase leverage that will let you lift more weight. If you have longer muscles you will have increased size and strength potential over the person with shorter muscles. Muscle strength is also influenced by the point of tendon insertion, example:

Jim and John both have the same arm and muscle length. However, Jim's biceps tendon attaches to his forearm farther from his elbow joint than John's does. This gives Jim a biomechanical advantage: he is able to lift more weight than John in biceps exercises such as the Biceps Curl. Also as stated above your fast twitch fibre ratio can differ and this can effect strength as fast twitch are for the strength (explosive,power) generating forces.

- Peak bone mass. Your genes determine your Skeletal structure, which is important for size and strength. Strong bones are important for support of heavy weights. But getting calcium can help maximize genetic potential for storing calcium in the bones.

- Women and Men in Strength and Muscle size: Generally it is the testosterone that makes all the difference, Female muscle can achieve almost exactly the same maximum force of contraction as the male: 3-4 kg/cm^2 (in terms of strength per square centimeter of cross-sectional area of muscle tissue). Men will have muscles that grow 40% or more larger than the female, thanks to our testicles. ha ha!

- All that other good stuff: Height, bodyweight, body type, muscle shape, etc.


Just like you can damage your genetics(with drugs, alcohol, etc.), you can also improve upon them (with exercise, good nutrition, etc.), good genetics didn't just pop out of the blue they had to have begun somewhere. We all have genetics, so do not brag and whine if you think they suck if you are having troubles with your physique or strength, look at what you are eating, Genetics were the basic frame work; but food really made us what we are today. It is your choices if you will be muscular, fat, strong, or weak, not your genetics, your genetics don't lift weights, you do!

Don't set limitations! Most of the people who accomplished great feats did so because they had the drive, persistence, vision and dedication to do it. When I am in the gym I don't even think or care about my genetics.

Some reads:

http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/genetics.html

 

[teslet]

Re: Relief........

So y'all are saying I'm not going to be stuck with scrawny calves forever?

Not really, it also very importantly depends on your training time and type of training, nutrition, state of mind.

The calves consist of two muscles: gastrocnemius, and soleus. The gastrocnemius muscle (the big lump calf muscle) has a higher preponderance of fast twitch fibres, while soleus (smaller long muscle next to gastro) has higher preponderance of slow twitch fibres. So low reps around 6-12 (or duration time of 20-40 sec each set) should give best response for gastrocnemius and high reps like 12-18 (or duration time of over 40 sec each set) should work best for soleus. But since every body is not the exact same; experiment with what actually works for you.

To find out what ratio you have a biopsy could be done,but this is not so appealing and if you rather want to find out what you may have a higher ratio of, go here:

http://members.tripod.com/trackathletics/basics/assesing_fibre_type.htm

I haven't tested this myself or now how accurate it is but don't be surprised if you find out your calves(gastros) are chiefly fast twitch.