ge.net.ics
1. (used with a sing. verb) The branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited characteristics among similar or related organisms.
2. (used with a pl. verb) The genetic constitution of an individual, group, or class.
(source) The American Heritage? Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright ? 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Genetics play a role in virtually all aspects of our lives. What we look like and how we react to internal and external influences are all related in some way to our genetics. As bodybuilders, we rely heavily on the various genetic traits we each inherited from our parents. I'd like to discuss a handful of these traits in this article. I'll specifically discuss body type, vascularity, muscle bellies and insertions and finally, recovery ability.
Preface: I don't intend this to be an all-encompassing article filled with scientific terminology but more of a general guide to evaluating yourself with your inherited genetics in mind.
Body Type - Take this quiz to find out your body type:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm.
Endomorph - Genetically predisposed to carrying higher levels of bodyfat.
Mesomorph - Genetically predisposed to being fairly lean and muscular.
Ectomorphs - Genetically predisposed to carrying low levels of bodyfat and little in the way of muscle mass.
Keep in mind that few people are pure in their body type. Most will find themselves a mixture of two types. The key is to recognize what body type you lean toward and focus your training and nutritional goals with your body type in mind.
Vascularity - A recent thread
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hreadid=195358 in the pictures section of the message boards got me thinking about this subject. Looking at a lineup of professionals on stage will demonstrate that vascularity has a genetic component. All will be very vascular thanks in part to their extremely low bodyfat but they each inherited how those veins look from their parents. Some will have freaky, criss-crossing veins while others will have very straight veins running along the length of their muscles. One will have extreme vascularity in only certain body parts while right next to him/her stands someone with visible veins from head to toe.
A good example of this are:
Paul Dillett
http://www.bodybuilders.com/paul1.jpg
vs
Shawn Ray
http://www.bodybuilders.com/ray57.jpg
vs
Rich Gaspari
http://www.bodybuilders.com/rich7.jpg
All have tremendous vascularity but each has a different look. Your parents gave you veins, low bodyfat and lots of muscle will make them visible but you can't change the way they look.
Muscle Bellies and Insertions - Here's where, in my opinion, genetics plays the most critical role in bodybuilding. This particular genetic trait will not only determine your strength and size but it also determines how each muscle "looks".
First things first though. Your muscles are attached to your bones at each end by tendons. The length of a particular muscle is what I call the muscle belly. Where the tendons attach to the bones is what I call the muscle insertion. It's the combination of muscle belly length, tendon length and insertion points that determines your strength and size potential as well as how a particular muscle will look.
The best example bodypart for demonstrating the size and look aspects is the calf. We've all seen the folks with so-called "high calves" and others with huge "low calves". The pictures that follow vividly illustrate this example.
Flex Wheeler
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/photo/...=&sort=1&cat=2
vs
Dorian Yates
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/photo/...=&sort=1&cat=2
I had a difficult time finding good examples of high calves but the above pictures show pretty decent examples of different calf attachments. I'm sure you've seen in your gyms people with very high calves and super-long calf tendons as well as the folks walking around with short attachments and large, full-bellied calves.
Let's look at a couple more examples to further explain this concept.
Hold one of your arms straight in front of your body. Now halfway flex your bicep and feel the tendon that is stretched at the elbow end of your bicep. In general, the shorter this tendon is, the longer and "fuller" your bicep will be. Bicep peak is also related to the tendon length.
Another good example of muscle/tendon insertion is the pectoral area. The inner pecs demonstrate clearly how muscle/tendon insertions vary. Most people will find a nice straight line where the pecs join. However, a few folks, myself included, have a significant gap between their pecs. Unfortunately, since this gap is a result of the muscle/tendon insertions being spread apart, all the pec mass in the world won't fill it in. Here are some examples of various pec insertions:
Dorian Yates
http://www.bodybuilders.com/dorian3.jpg
vs
Don Long
http://www.bodybuilders.com/long3.jpg
vs
Kevin Levrone
http://www.bodybuilders.com/levrone4.jpg
vs
Roland Kickinger
http://www.bodybuilders.com/kickin16.jpg
I couldn't find any good pictures of extreme pectoral insertions so I'll use my chest as an example. Click on grayMM.jpg at the bottom of the article to view the pic. Yeah, it sucks to be me in this case but we all gotta live with what we got. Note the major separation between pectoral muscles.
Muscle bellies and insertions play a critical role not only in how you look but also in your strength potential as well. Biomechanical leverage is a critical component in strength potential and is determined mainly by muscle/tendon insertion locations.
Recovery Ability - Finally, genetics plays a critical role in an individual's recovery ability. Recovery ability involves hundreds of different attributes ranging from digestive efficiency to tendon and ligament growth as a result of overcompensation. The combination of each individual recovery factor culminates in general recovery ability. One person may be able to digest large amounts of protein and utilize it effectively while another may "waste" half of their protein intake due to digestive inefficiencies. Another example is the different set/rep schemes used by bodybuilders. Some may benefit and grow from low reps and very heavy weights while others, due to a different genetic makeup, achieve better growth from lighter weights and higher reps.
Recovery ability provides the growth and development all bodybuilders strive for and it's heavily influenced by your individual genetics.
Conclusion - So there you have it. Tim's quick and dirty guide to a few of your genetic traits. The key is to take what your parents gave you, work hard and smart with your genetics in mind and take your physique in the direction you want it to go.
TimB
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