Genetics....

[Sem213]

Originally Posted by RDRb

Personally, I think the importance of genetics are way overrated.

1. Everyone has the same muscles and can build them to look good with enough hard work.
2. It is possible to increase bone density, in other words, that makes part of the genetic descriptions seem faulty/incorrect.
3. People who have endomorph-looking bodytypes have probably done things to get theirselves in that position and were most likely skinny at one point in their childhood.
4. People who ectomorph-looking bodytypes often haven't lifted much and have always ate little amounts of food.
5. People who are recognized as mesomorphs are often those who have trained since an early age and/or have an aesthetically-pleasing appearance combined with strength which can be developed through HIIT as well as lifting experience.

I have a friend at work who always says "For us with ****ty genetics, we just have to dirty bulk or we won't get anywhere." He goes to this forum too.

Edit-- Another thing: Just to be clear, I DO BELIEVE in the genetics of traits which are learned in biology. I just think the genetics of muscle building are overrated and possibly faulty.

repped, because I wanted to point out the same thing.

All people with a great body are said to have great genetics, and all untrained people claim to have ****ty genetics. How do they know? They have never trained/just started training.

There are lots of transformation on the bodybuilding.com supersite, where some skinny little **** kid transformed into a big muscular guy. Did that little **** kid have great genetics? Yeah, most likely, but you can only say that afterwards.

[JoeyDaFool]

genetics are overrated. you can overcome bad genetics with hard work. it's not like everyone here want to be pro bbers. most of us just want to look good on the beach or actually look like a man. both goals are achievable if someone is willing to work hard.

too many ppl here and irl (especially irl) just whine and whine but don't do anything to improve. the only way to achieve results is by beginning something and sticking at it long enough while trying new/different things when you plateau. of course though, the intensity needs to be there. half ass workouts=half ass results. always give it EVERYTHING you got

[Hulk06]

genetics are very underrated IMO. it's not a legit excuse to stay out of the gym but people who aspire to have a physique like some obviously gifted genetic freak with veins everywhere, ridiculous abs, and impressive bicep peaks are goign to be disappointed. Everybody can add plenty of muscle mass, it's just that a lot of people will always be unhappy with how it looks on their frame compared to if that same amount of muscle were on someone else's body(the genetic freak.) Vascularity(to a good extent), bicep peak, and an overall aesthetic physique are purely genetic IMO.

cliffs- anybody can add muscle and PLENTY of it.
people who compare their bodies with someone else who is obviously gifted is setting themselves up for failure.
work the hardest you can...the rest will take care of itself

[train4guns]

Agree with the above poster.

I'd like to add that with good genetics people hold onto muscle better when cutting, and stay leaner when bulking.

So genetics can play a big part when it comes to the timeframe of adding muscle.

It may take some guys 10 years, to get where a genetic freak got in two or three years.

The bottom line is don't give up and keep training.

[BBingGuru]

Originally Posted by BuzzKillington

the way i see it genetics just determine how you get there, not the fact that you do. they are good to have on your side, no big deal if there not. (atleast for me)

Amazing post. That is a great way to look at it!
Repped!

[BBingGuru]

Great posts from everyone!
I think so far the common thought is,
"Dont cop out and blame genetics, just work harder and you'll get there"
Its kinda like the fork in the road, the left sides a direct path, but only few can endeavor the narrow extremely dangerous roads. The right side is much safer, but will take a little longer. Genetics would play what road you go down. Doesn't matter what road you take though, they both lead the the same place in the end!

Keep the posts rolling!

[StylesOfBeyond]

genetics play a part in how your body looks, but the person is the one that lifts, eats and lives their life, not their genes.

[Hengman]

I'm a genetic freak myself.

But I still have to lift to put that effect to use.

[dzvero007]

What I think is that everyone can build a very attractive physique no matter his genetics. Just work hard.

[AaronJF]

Someone with high lat insertions can never work hard enough to get low lat insertions, and someone with huge joints and wide hips will never bust his ass hard enough to get small joints and a narrow waist. To a point genetics aren't a good excuse, they just might require more work to get where you want. And some people like to use genetices as a bad excuse for laziness... but genetics are a huge part of BBing and serve as a very good excuse to alot of people.

[JoeyDaFool]

you don't need great genetics to have a aesthetics physique...come on now. the only guys that are muscular and look like **** are the steroid abusers and their gh guts

[Domstar104]

my bro and i are great examples of genetics. we looks really similar (facial bone structure, hair etc) apart from having completely different bodytypes. Firstly hes about 6,2 and 160lbs but in contest shape, literally 2-3%bf, abs shredded and brilliant definition and he just gets by on cereal and crisps(potato chips) if he got a tan and oiled up, he could enter a contest. But me i started training year and a bit ago at straight 175lbs with thick joints, wide shoulders great at gaining muscle(no brag); but i cant get below 10%bf to save my life, ive tried real hard before.

we are literally the same person but with the 2 extreme ends of the spectrum. so i do believe that genetics does put a cap on where you can get too.

[KHSwideout2k8]

Originally Posted by Full_Blown

most people dont know enough about bbing to distinguish whether or not they have good genetics.

NUFF SAID! thank you

[BBingGuru]

Originally Posted by AaronJF

Someone with high lat insertions can never work hard enough to get low lat insertions, and someone with huge joints and wide hips will never bust his ass hard enough to get small joints and a narrow waist. To a point genetics aren't a good excuse, they just might require more work to get where you want. And some people like to use genetices as a bad excuse for laziness... but genetics are a huge part of BBing and serve as a very good excuse to alot of people.

Thats bone structure brah

[AaronJF]

Originally Posted by DaveAngus

Thats bone structure brah

bone structure is determined by genetics

[tonksie93]

Yea i get pissed aswell, my mate is always bragging about how buff and how big his arms are, even though he's never picked up a weight he smokes cigarettes, smokes weed drinks also everyday and eats like **** and has a pac and shows off about it. :@

[Araj]

I have Dreamer-like genetics
Sucks.
Just sayin.

[BBingGuru]

Everyone just needs to push hard in the gym and who cares about genetics. 99% of us here are not developed enough to even worry about genetics.

Kinda like the whole "I MUST WORK LOWER, UPPER AND MID CHEST" fad. if your chest isn't huge, dont worry about developing specific parts. Dont get me wrong, I love incline bench, flat bench, decline flies you name it...I love it, but I dont do decline flies all the of the time. Blow your chest up THEN worr about working your lower chest, upper chest, and mid chest in different sessions.

[st3v3]

I have ****ty genetics, pure ecto basically, and I'm still working with it

[nk_84]

I think genetics in terms of how much muscle you can build in terms of hypertrophy and the amount of fibres both fast and slow twitch one has, including natural strength, does make a big difference. Height and bone structure size can also be life changing in terms of bodybuilding and the results you can achieve.

Of course you have the genetic 3 body types of Ecto, Meso, Endo. But no one is simply just ONE of these, you have characteristics of all three I believe on a scale of 1-7. So if the order was Ecto, Meso, Endo. I could be a 3-4-1.

If you look into the bone structure for example, you have your Axis skeleton, which is the connection of the pelvic girdle to the body (rib cage, skull, etc) and your Appendicular skeleton, which is everything that hangs off it (arms, legs)

Some people have a big axis area and tiny Appendicular area, with bad genetics for building muscle. These people will never look, or come close to Arnold, or anyone with a good bone structure and genetics.

I myself have a smaller Axis skeleton with bigger Appendicular skeleton, so my chest and back look small, but my arms, even with a bit of muscle...have always look decent. Whereas some people have these big chest frames and 15" arms that look like nothing in proportion to their height, weight, etc.

Arnold would have been a 2-5-4, oe something that surely was very mesomorphic in terms of his shape. but he was 6'2, so Ecto characteristic were there. He gained weight and was very mesomorphic. But for sure, he was on roids, obviously.

All I'm saying is, genetics can and DO play a much bigger part then some may think, despite the effort some put into the gym, at times...results can be limited and in some cases, people won't see many results at all, unless they give themselves an edge on their genetic make up + all the hard work.

That's my opinion.


Look at JamerJay, he has good balance and size. He carries his weight well and looks much bigger then he is in ratio to arm, chest, shoulder size vs. waist. Sometimes it's not just effort or Diet in training, but genetic makeup. Not everyone can look THAT good, even if you make your diet and training a science, rather then going by feel (like me).

NK.

[IRockNikes]

My friend stopped working out b/c he found out he was an ectomorph. srs.

[BBingGuru]

Weak.

[nk_84]

Originally Posted by IRockNikes

My friend stopped working out b/c he found out he was an ectomorph. srs.

I would tell your friend to keep striving, in some extreme causes of Ectomorphs, such as a 6-1-1, you would need a lot of calories. Way more then what is considered normal, even for bulking.

Just to clear things up, no one is ever a straight 7 out of Eco, Meso, Endo. Just doesn't happen.

Anyway, I believe you can still put size on, but whether or not it looks good and is lean weight is another matter. So yes, to some extent, Genetics really are something to blame if you're doing everything right and not getting the results.

NK.

[dunkalicious]

my genetics sucks

[belairdfence99]

Completely agree, people who say it's so much harder for them to:
Get bigger
Get ripped
Lose weight
Eat right
Have energy

People want an excuse and they have found it-genetics

[Reptile]

I agree to both sides of the argument, genetics does put a hindrance on to the type of body you will achieve, for example, my complain is and always will be that I have wide hips, so it makes it soooooo difficult to get a V-Taper, I'm busting my ass to get mass on my side delts and get bigger lats, it's just very difficult. I'd love to take one of those file's and file down or sand down some of the bone on my freakin hips! Another problem is my chest, I have this crappy gap between my pecs in the middle, so I envy those guys that have there chest (left and right pec) practically touching each other in the middle, no matter what I do I can't get that gap to cover why? Because of genetics, there is no muscle in the middle so I can't build anything there on bone, I can however try to fill it out with more mass. So in theory yes genetics sucks for some of us but should not be a complete showstopper for getting a better then average body!

[carrottopnelson]

Originally Posted by IRockNikes

My friend stopped working out b/c he found out he was an ectomorph. srs.

fail

[BBingGuru]

I'm loving the comments here. Lots of good input! Keep it rolling!

[Km21]

Genetics do effect your build and how fast or how easily you build muscle and etc.

But theres nothing like earning muscle through hard work, no one should ever feel like they cant get big because of genetics.

[dan12]

Genetics are the most important thing but i do not think that should stop someone from having a decent build. They only really come into play if you want to compete. You just have to work a lot harder and although it can be discouraging you just have to stick with it.