As the resident running expert for That’s Fit, I can’t let the stuff about running being useless go without comment. The fact is that this is far from the first study on the genetics of trainability, and such studies are often played up by the media (and even misrepresented) because it’s flashy to say something like “Don’t bother exercising; it’s a waste of time” because it raises readership.

Therefore, I’m going to copy over some information from my chapter on genetics on this subject:

Dr. Claude Bouchard is one the most respected and well-known researchers in the field of the genetics of obesity and physical fitness. Bouchard was leader of the HERITAGE Family Study which, during its first phase, took 481 healthy but sedentary Caucasian subjects from 98 separate families and tested their aerobic capacity, put them on a lab-supervised training regimen for the next 20 weeks, and then re-tested them.1

The study tested for VO2 max, which is the maximum capacity of a person to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise: a reflection of the person’s level of fitness. The study found that trainability is a heritable trait, up to 47%. It is also not surprising that there were some people who responded to training much better than others, representing a typical bell curve of results. The surprising data come from what I already discussed, which is that some people appeared to be “untrainable.” The normative prediction for expected VO2 max improvement for the group was 400 ml/min, but in actuality the range was from 0 ml/min to >1000 ml/min, with about 10% falling into the “non-responder” category.2

There is no question that some people will respond better to training than others. You may discover that working hard gets great results. You may start running and find that you suck at first, but after a few weeks you can go further and faster than when you started. Conversely, you could be a low responder and have to work at it for a long time before you see improvements in your aerobic ability.

Vassilis Klissouras, in an article in the European Journal of Sport Science disagreed with some of Bouchard’s findings in regards to trainability. According to Klissouras, “Scrutinization of the available evidence does not support the contention that trainability of VO2max is genotype-dependent, nor does it warrant the inference that superior athletes are more sensitive to training.”3

Are you a high or a low responder? You’ll never know unless you try. Even if you find that you are slow to respond to training, improvements can be made. Even if the assessments in the HERITAGE study of 10% of people being non-responders is true (which, as Klissouras pointed out, is debateable), the study was of short duration, and only measured VO2 max as an indicator, whereas in real life there are many other variables in which to evaluate fitness and responsiveness to training. Bouchard’s work didn’t address issues like improvements in strength, metabolic changes, fat loss, increases in overall muscularity, cholesterol levels etc.

The point is that genetics can play an influential role in body type, trainability, predisposition towards exercise and eating habits, as well as overall obesity risk.

Notice that I wrote “can play an influential role.” This is far from being an absolute.

Because you are now aware of how genetics can affect your efforts to get in shape, you can use that information to your benefit. The primary takeaway from this is: be adaptable. Pay close attention to what works and what doesn’t and work on improving in areas that you are weak while taking advantage of areas in which you are strong.

It can be hard to determine exactly what genes you have. Even people who are programmed to lose fat and build muscle easily can look like blobs if they are donut-loving couch potatoes. Maybe your genes will be your friend and maybe they won’t be. Like most things in life, the variety of expression of the human genome distributes people along the bell curve. All men are NOT created equal. Maybe you are programmed for power over endurance or maybe the other way around. Maybe you have potential to be good at both. Maybe you suck at both. Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up, or an Olympic athlete.

It is all about achieving your maximum genetic potential, no matter what that potential may be, and you won’t find out what it is while watching TV. Remember that heritability is not a prison sentence unless you decide to make it one.

If you wish to read my entire chapter on genetics (political incorrectness alert!), here it is: http://www.bodyforwife.com/genetics.html

1. Claude Bouchard et al., “Familial aggregation of VO2 max response to exercise training: results from the HERITAGE Family Study,” Journal of Applied Physiology, 87, 1999, p. 1003.
2. Ibid., pp. 105-107.
3. Vassilis Klissouras, “The Nature and Nurture of Human Performance,” European Journal of Sport Science, 1 (2), June 1, 2001, p. 1.

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