Do you think someone skinny prior to lifting could have Mr Olympia genetics?

[BartPimpson]

[xerbia]

Genetics in bodybuilding= How you respond to the drugs used, how long can you stay healthy while using them... That's it..

[RoroCwalker]

Genetics in bodybuilding= How you respond to the drugs used, how long can you stay healthy while using them... That's it..

It also includes your insertions, structure, ability to get big/conditioned, etc.

[xerbia]

It also includes your insertions, structure, ability to get big/conditioned, etc.

Not so much, considering the drugs will condition you and enough mass will make any bad insertion look good.

[Spartacus81]

People always put forth the idea that Mr Olympia's have genetics found only in the top 0.00001% of the population. When you see the transformation Big Ramy underwent in such a short period of time... you can understand where they're coming from.

I always have the idea in my head that Mr Olympia's were always 200 lbs shredded before they even started lifting but from before/after pictures I've seen that's not always true.

Do you think it could be possible that a stick thin 130 lbs guy could have the genetics to be a Mr Olympia? Or would his genetics mean that he already had a significant amount of muscle mass prior to lifting?

Some examples of guys that didn't look particularly amazing beforehand would be Dorian Yates and Phil Heath.

Kevin Levrone and Flex Wheeler, although not Mr Olympia's, were skinny as hell before they started lifting too.

Dexter was skinny. He won the O. Look at his early pics.

[transformerchad]

Seems like 99% of pros were Skinny before lifting

And then there was Evan ...

[TeddyAtlus]

It doesn't really matter how skinny they were when they started. If you listen to the stories of Ronnie, Markus Ruhl, Kai, etc. a lot of them responded well to weight training before they even considered bodybuilding as a career. I think for both Ronnie and Markus someone at their gym convinced them to start competing and taking bodybuilding seriously because they looked so good from just lifting. I think Kai mentioned that someone noticed his physique and convinced him to start competing in his teens. So it doesn't really matter where you start, if you have good genetics for building muscle, you'll find out pretty quickly.

[RockyTheKid]

Kevin Levrone was pretty skinny before he became FULLBLOWN, baby.

[DomzyCuttin]

Not so much, considering the drugs will condition you and enough mass will make any bad insertion look good.

Lol ok...

Insertions and bone structure are the main factors.

[_Muskelberg_]

[RoroCwalker]

Not so much, considering the drugs will condition you and enough mass will make any bad insertion look good.

I disagree.

Drugs alone do not get you in condition, it's not a unified protocol, it's relative to each individual's assimilation of certain drugs and also how his body will respond to that, how far it can go without having certain side effects.

I don't understand the logic behind "enough mass will make any bad insertion look good.", they still remain non-ideal insertions, the mass will grow within the confines of that insertion.

[xplicid01]

Ronnie used to finish at the bottom of all of his contests in the beginning, he trained it across Europe to compete while others flew because he couldn't afford to fly. Then he blew up in '98 and shocked the bb world, winning 8 Sandows. Kevin Levrone placed 2nd at his first Mr. Olympia and was said to be a sure future multiple Mr. O winner, he never won one. Point being, even once/if you turn Pro which is a feat in itself, your genetics still play a role in terms of how far and how much you progress once you are a Pro. It's a long, long road and the majority of people who try to travel do not even reach the level of IFBB Pro, let alone top 10 or Mr. Olympia.

At the 2013 Olympia, Ronnie spoke about the years prior to him winning the Mr. Olympia and what lead up to his greatness... Honestly, such a cool story. Paraphrasing, he was talking about how hard he trained and how he poured his blood and guts into the sport but just wasnt getting the results with contest placing. It got to the point where he even considered stopping competing.

Ronnie kept on repeating himself, how he felt like he was the best but kept watching flex and levrone win all these shows, so he felt asking them how they were winning all these shows was the best idea. Flex essential told him he wasnt taking enough gear (Ronnie euphemized the steroids by saying flex told him to take X amount of vit D, vit C, and Ronnie was like daaaaaamn flex, thats a lot of vitamins... proceeding to say to the audience, it was really vitamins wink wink. the audience laughed). The flex bit was hillarious, Ronnie did a good job at getting his point across without saying steroids. He said he almost doubled the amounts of vitamins he taking at that point. Next show, he placed in the top 5 for the first time.

The Kevin story was equally as cool, he went to Kevins hotel the day before a show, taking place that night and asked kevin the same Question: how was winning all these shows? Kevin proceeded to pour a cup of coffee and put about 3 shots of vodka in the coffee, told Ronnie if he wanted to win, he needed to drink it. Ronnie said he wasnt a drinking man and Kevin replied that is what it took to win the show. Ronnie had some funny commentary and was like "i drank that coffee in 10 seconds"... It was the first show he ever beat Kevin and the last he Kevin ever beat him (outside of one show i believe)


There are hundreds of genetic factors that play a role in what makes a pro bber but there are 3 in my opinion that have the biggest role:
1. muscle bellies
2. AAS... response to gear, ability to handle sides from high doses
3. mind set.. some might say this isnt genetic but the best have a screw lose upstairs which I think is a genetic component (this translates to all sports, examples being manning, brady, jordan, bryant, people willing to live their craft 24 hours a day)

[stealth_swimmer]

Dang guy, that's like saying does a guy have potential to be a top running back in the NFL before he has ever touched a football. Get what I am saying? Bodybuilders are just regular people with regular bodies until they start training. The genetics have to do with the response to training and supplements as well as their overall structure, muscle bellies/insertions et.

You can't determine if a 130 lbs skinny guy has the genetics to be Mr. Olympia before he has trained anymore than you can determine whether that same 130 lbs skinny guy has the genetics to be a top running back in the NFL before he has ever touched a football.

There is no telling. When these top pros drop supplements and training, they shrink down to average size people, they don't carry more innate muscle mass than others without the proper diet, training and supplementation.

This.