BB and genetics

[Joog]

Just what is passed onto our kids genetically?

My wife and I want to have kids, sometime in the next couple of years. This is part of the reason I began my "health kick" (now, a lifestyle)
Our idea was, that since we will be late starters (30 and 37 yo) we wanted to make sure we are fit and healthy for our kids.

Just wondering, could our fitness be passed onto our kids??
Stuff like lean body mass, muscularity etc.

Or is it just stuff like bone structure, predisposition to disease etc????

[Joog]

Anyone???

[big.nick]

Yes, EVERYTHING is genetic, even personality is partly genetic. I Have a rare genetic myostatin mutation giving me far above average strength.

[ntrllftr]

I believe in genetics. I am living proof that they can SUCK!
Now with that being said, they are only as good as to what each individual uses them to their own advantage.

[chodan9]

I'm not an expert in natural selection but I would not think that starting fitness now would pass on any great genetic potential for fitness. Now if it was kept up for the next few generations then you may see a genetic predisposition to be fit in your great, great, great, grand kids.
What you would be passing on to your kids would be strong habits.
I know that watching my dad smoke for years played a part in myself begining. Had he been big on fitness and I had witnessed that while growing up, I may have had a stronger urge to get off the couch.
So, I think its more a gift of positive attitudes and healthy habits that you will leave your kids than any slight genetic bump.
All this was my opinion, I have no scientific data to back it up :-)

[jude-o]

Just wondering, could our fitness be passed onto our kids??
Stuff like lean body mass, muscularity etc.

Getting in better shape before you have kids probably* won't change their genetics/natural potential...but it will probably serve as a good example for them, which can count for a lot.


*The traditional answer is 'of course it won't change anything'...but as we learn more about 'epigenetics', how genes can be persistently turned on and off by the experiences of a parent, the picture gets muddier.

[Tommy W.]

What a fit and healthy lifestyle does is sets an example for your kids to follow.

I got it from my Mom and my daughter gets it from me. She's 16, total gym rat and looks like a supermodel (oh lucky me).

TW

[Insulin Ihsaan]

their natural and physical characteristics would be the same, but the lifestyle would really rub of on them

[misstransformer]

Originally Posted by Joog

Just what is passed onto our kids genetically?

My wife and I want to have kids, sometime in the next couple of years. This is part of the reason I began my "health kick" (now, a lifestyle)
Our idea was, that since we will be late starters (30 and 37 yo) we wanted to make sure we are fit and healthy for our kids.

Just wondering, could our fitness be passed onto our kids??
Stuff like lean body mass, muscularity etc.

Or is it just stuff like bone structure, predisposition to disease etc????

Hey Joog, genetics are very tricky. Most definitely parents can pass physical characteristics on to their children. However, genes can also skip a generation or two, and go back to grandparents, or even great grandparents. So you never really know. The great thing, is that you can instill healthy habits and lifestyle choices in your children early, that will stay with them well into adulthood. Truth be told, most people with great physiques, are not usually genetically gifted, but disciplined and determined to be fit. Mindset. I'm sure you and your wife will have beautiful children. Good for you both on thinking about these issues early on. T

[Joog]

Hmmmm....I guess the environment is the biggest thing, whether the parents set the example.

It's like when you see a large couple, with large kids. Quite often I will hear, "Oh, all our family have been very large" when they are explaining why the kids are fat.

So, if a generation gets fit, and then has kids.....could those kids have a predisposition to lean towards leaness and fitness?

I have huge relatives on both sides of my family tree but I've always been pretty lean (skinnyfat) When I hit 35, things changed though!!

[Domkratos]

Originally Posted by Joog

Just what is passed onto our kids genetically?

My wife and I want to have kids, sometime in the next couple of years. This is part of the reason I began my "health kick" (now, a lifestyle)
Our idea was, that since we will be late starters (30 and 37 yo) we wanted to make sure we are fit and healthy for our kids.

Just wondering, could our fitness be passed onto our kids??
Stuff like lean body mass, muscularity etc.

Or is it just stuff like bone structure, predisposition to disease etc????

I am sure that I couldn't have ever lifted half of what I did had it not been for the genetics I had received from my ancestors who were real hard working people (mostly farmers and warriors).

As to the impact of training upon the trainee's genetics:
all I have to say is that it's already a scientifically proven fact that intense weightlifting launches the processes in the cell's nucleolus that affect its two major functions: coordination of the cell's activities, which include growth/intermediary metabolism/protein synthesis/reproduction (cell division) and the storage of the cell's hereditary material, or DNA.

So, I wish you both the success and good luck!

[IR45N]

Vow to rear good kids; not perfect kids. Good early eating habits of all kinds of foods; not just adult focused narrow healthy eating.

Encourage them to be active; don't let them sit in front of the holographic interaction game area.....or whatever futuristic passive entertainment is developed.

Mom & dad set good examples your kids can see and follow. Good parenting wil benefit ANY genetics.

[StartinOver-68]

If your family trait is big noses and you have a nose job, will your children have the nose job ?

That in essence is what you are asking. Rely on good teaching, not genetics.

[DominiRicanUSA]

I think if the mother nurses and pays attention to her nutrition for the first year it will have an incredible impact on your child's early development. The immune system will be strong, the milk is tailor made for the baby. I would probably be more concerned about that, and as mentioned earlier, you will set an example for your child at least when you get in shape. Just remember, babies do not know mcdonald's, pastries, sugar-colored-water exists, keep them as ignorant of that for as long as possible.

[Wildtim]

The only kids that have it easy from a genetics standpoint are the kids who's parents sit in front of the TV with Dew and Doritoes smoking cigarettes and still look like super models. The rest of us have to work hard at it. Setting a good example throughout the kids formative years is the most important. also encouraging but not forcing good nutrition and exercise for them helps.

My parents were overweight, so were my uncles and aunts, but my parents encouraged good exercise habits in me. I complain about the twenty pounds I have put on since High school and am working to better myself. My cousins have put on fifty, sixty and even a hundred pounds over the same span and they look at me like I'm nuts. The only relative of mine who is near/under my weight or works out was encouraged by his dad to play ball, and he made it semi-pro.

It's all about the encouragement the kid receives and finding them activities they enjoy. They might not like lifting for its own sake but if they do anything active it will stay healthy and eventually find their way into a gym and get even fitter.

[KimberleyRN]

Originally Posted by DominiRicanUSA

I think if the mother nurses and pays attention to her nutrition for the first year it will have an incredible impact on your child's early development. The immune system will be strong, the milk is tailor made for the baby. I would probably be more concerned about that, and as mentioned earlier, you will set an example for your child at least when you get in shape. Just remember, babies do not know mcdonald's, pastries, sugar-colored-water exists, keep them as ignorant of that for as long as possible.

FANTASTIC advice!

The larger impact will be that the children see you eating clean, lifting often and are surrounded with an attitued of positivity and wellness.

Our at home children are 11 and 6. They know how to read labels and understand the importance of 3 meals/3 snacks and a proper protein/carb ratio.

They see us working out 6 out of 7 days and understand the need for listening to their bodies.

Justus age 6 has started coming into the weight area and wants to lift. I gave him my 2# DBs and showed him good form and proper breathing through the movements. He wants to be strong.

Jaina age 11, understands the difference between SKINNY and LEAN. She has amazingly strong arms and notices the 'supermodels' have NO deltoids. I am so proud of her for wanting nicely defined delts instead of the heroin chic look the magazines purport as en vogue.

We never tell our children they can NOT eat something. We present the facts and let them make their own decisions. Sometimes Jaina will choose water with her meal at a resturaunt, sometimes lemonade and even though it has HFCS, I allow her to make that decision.

...rambling...

[Joog]

Great advice on the environmental aspect!!! Thanks everyone!

My wife is a childcare professional and both her and I get pretty P***ed off when Ronald McDonald visits her centre to hand out vouchers for "happy meals" and colouring-in books!!
We have both had words with the directors over this but they don't "get" what we are on about. Maybe they reckon we're just "health freaks"

My wife still has her old exercise physiology books from uni, which I've been reading. I'm into a section now, on the effects on the immune system from exercise conditioning. Very interesting subject. I have noticed in the last 12mths, since we started eating healthier, neither of us has had a bad flu or cold.
I can work in a place where 90% of the others are sick for 2-3 weeks at a time and I may only get a touch of it (flu) for a day or two.

[spirit3530]

i don`t believe genetics keep you from carrying a low bodyfat. all bodytypes (bonestructures) can be lean. You just have to do the work. ofcourse if have been overweight your whole life its gonna take awhile.

[redweston]

genetics play a big part in body type, but that is no excuse for some one with fat parents to give in to being fat, this is a life style we have chosen for ourself, others just choose a different life style!

keeponpumpin!-red

[jgreystoke]

Hi Joog.

Genotype preceeds Phenotype.

Genotype refers to the genetic material. Nothing you or your wife can do in the gym can make your kids inherit genes for strength other than the lottery of pairing up 23 chromosomes from each of you. Each chromosome has thousands of genes.

Phenotype refers to the Phenomenon, ie the actual expression of those genes in the person or creature.

Any improvement you do in the gym, will not be passed on thru' the genes. Thus Jews still have to be circumcised, in spite of their fathers being circumcised for 4 thousand years.

If Ronnie has male children, they won't have 22" arms automatically. They'd have to go thru' the same torture for years. And they'd have to be lucky enough to inherit the GENES to allow them to do it.

Of course YOUR GOOD EXAMPLE as a mom and dad who are fit and strong, and who eat well, will have a HUGE effect on the kids long AFTER they are born.

You'll likely add life to your years, and maybe years to your life, and really enjoy watching them grow upright and strong. I can tell you, it's great to be still alive and kickin' when they are all grown up!

[Keyser Soze]

Well, if you look at the Boxing world, it's split into about weight classes, from 105-190Ibs. That's the weight you are when you're down to about 13-15% BF and still strong enough to fight.

Clearly, if both your grandfathers were minimum weight champs, and both your grandmothers were Kylie Minogue lookalikes, the chances of you ever getting to 280Ibs at 15% bf are virtually non-existent.

Now, the majority of people, having a wide admixture of meso, endo and ecto genes, can still look big and lean with enough hard work, but the better your genes, the easier your path in BB will be, and the bigger you'll be at the end of the path.

My mother had very slim upper arms, God rest her soul, my Dad has good arms, but then I take after her, not him. No wonder I have a 51" chest but only 17.5" arms.

[HandsOn]

Hope these links help you out with the topic.

[NOVA: Epigenetics]

[Program Description]

It was a new ('07) episode so it should be re-airing sometime in the near future as they stretch the season out.

[stevestrong]

being a hard gainer i blame my parents if they had both been massive and ripped my life might have been easier .....ill never forgive them

[Joog]

Originally Posted by StartinOver-68

If your family trait is big noses and you have a nose job, will your children have the nose job ?

That in essence is what you are asking. Rely on good teaching, not genetics.

A nose job is only skin deep though, whereas exercise changes your physiology. Same as a circumcision is only a cosmetic change not a physiological change.
I figured, if I have a stronger immune system and CNS through exercise, surely my children could be more likely to be born with a head start.(however slight)

I hear warnings in the media of how, if say, you smoke, then have children, you may genetically endear your offspring to developing cancer later in life.

From what Jgreystroke says, this might only be a one in a billion chance.

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by Joog

Hmmmm....I guess the environment is the biggest thing, whether the parents set the example.

It's like when you see a large couple, with large kids. Quite often I will hear, "Oh, all our family have been very large" when they are explaining why the kids are fat.

So, if a generation gets fit, and then has kids.....could those kids have a predisposition to lean towards leaness and fitness?

I have huge relatives on both sides of my family tree but I've always been pretty lean (skinnyfat) When I hit 35, things changed though!!

Recent reserach is suggesting that mom's diet during pregnancy can predispose kids toward obesity (and associated health problems), regardless how those kids eat once born. Thisis an area just starting to be studied so there is not a lot of data, but here is some:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-cho110306.php
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/Tur...3414169&page=1
http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...656786,00.html

[biggaz]

Originally Posted by IR45N

Vow to rear good kids; not perfect kids. Good early eating habits of all kinds of foods; not just adult focused narrow healthy eating.

Encourage them to be active; don't let them sit in front of the holographic interaction game area.....or whatever futuristic passive entertainment is developed.

Mom & dad set good examples your kids can see and follow. Good parenting wil benefit ANY genetics.

x2

My children ate adult type healthy food from a very young age, very seldom drunk pop or soda, and never craved sugar.. But we were considered "odd" by our peers because of that..

[Joog]

Yeh, it's amazing how horrified some of our friends are when they look in our fridge. It's like "what! you've got no Coke!"

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by Joog

Yeh, it's amazing how horrified some of our friends are when they look in our fridge. It's like "what! you've got no Coke!"

I can't tell you how many times my kids' friends come over and look in our frig with despair.

"How come you don't have any "regular" peanut butter?"
"Ewww - you drink seltzer water? It's not sweet!"
"Don't you have a hotdog or something normal to eat?"

And my favorite:

"I don't like how organic milk tastes!"

[otrebmu]

the genetics you actually pass on to your offspring will be the same if you're unhealthy or health. it doesn't matter
LIFESTYLE WILL be passed onto your children
live healthy and they will be healthy, God-willing

[HandsOn]

Originally Posted by HandsOn

Hope these links help you out with the topic.

[NOVA: Epigenetics]

[Program Description]

It was a new ('07) episode so it should be re-airing sometime in the near future as they stretch the season out.

Just an FYI here, I noticed this previously noted episode of NOVA will finally be re-broadcast in just over a week via U.S. PBS stations.

"Ghost In Your Genes
Tuesday, September 22 at 8 pm
Experts investigate how a mysterious "second genome" helps determine our biological fates."