THE GYM GENETIC LOTTERY

The hard truth about those that improve quickly and those who do not (and what you can and should do about it)

Everyone knows a guy (or girl) that has always had an enviable physique.

That aspirational friend or acquaintance that has been either blessed with incredible glutes and shoulders or seemingly outstrips everyone else in the gym.

Even when participating in weight training on an ad hoc or even feckless basis.

I’ve known plenty of these people during my tenure, both as coach and as trainee (and assuredly will encounter many more)

The phenomenon of those who put on muscle and improve really easily versus those who don’t is actually well established in scientific literature, and people can be spread over a broad spectrum flanked by two distinct extreme categories: hypo and hyper-responders.

Now, for absolute clarity, I’ll be honest with you – I don’t sit accurately in the middle of this graph. I am closer to the hyper-responder than the baseline but! I am NOT a hyper-responder.

There are (frustratingly) men who have never been in a gym who can instantly rep 140kg on the bench press – it took me 5 years of constant training, setbacks, injuries and impatience to eventually breach that threshold.

And likewise, there are people out there who simply hear the word “dumbbell” and pack another inch onto their arms (or even more enviably in my case – their calves)

Meanwhile, with my long limbs and slim wrists, I had to go through multiple bulking and cutting modalities, over a period of years, to be in the vicinity of my current physique.

And since maxing out my newbie and intermediate gains, each year I’m putting on maybe 0.5kg muscle at best, and it requires more thorough dedication.

But enough about me…

Hypo vs hyper-responder: what, why, how and, most pertinently, is there anything you can do to shift the dial back in your favour?

At first glance, especially when speaking about male physiques, you might think what separates the apex from the baseline is simply a matter of testosterone.

This isn’t the case.

In fact, there are many hyper-responders out there who, when tested, come back with only average test levels.

The truth is much deeper than that, at a cellular level. And a specific type of cell at that.

It’s about your myocytes.

Myocyte (myo being derivative of the Greek prefix for muscle, “mys”) and means exactly that – your muscle cells.

Put simply, these potent biological rendering units are responsible for ordering and layering out amino acids (proteins) when consumed to rebuild and construct new muscle tissue.

The more you have, the more aminos can be rendered into muscle tissue and the faster you can build.

This will also invariably have an effect on your “upper limit” of muscle tissue which relates to your genetic potential.

6 time Olympia winner Dorian Yates likened this concept to a building site: you have the construction plan, your materials, and your builders.

All things being equal (with material being aminos) it comes down to how many builders you have on site to get the job done – more meaning better.

“Average” people may have 2-3 builders on site. A hyper-responder might have 5-6.

A genetic phenom like a Dorain Yates might have 8 or 9.

And what about the other side of the coin, the hypo-responder? Well, yes this exists as well.

There are some people who require a disproportionately higher level of effort, consistency and patience to achieve the same gains as a baseline trainee, and especially a hyper-responder.

Whereas an “average” trainee might require 50 working sets over a period of weeks/months and workouts to elicit x amount of muscle gain…

…a hypo-responder might need 100 working sets over a longer period to achieve the same result.

They simply don’t have the capacity at the cellular level to build muscle at the same rate, and this is a bottleneck that cannot easily be overcome through training.

While training (specifically weight training) will help to improve the density and efficiency of those myocytes, this is akin to discussing a situation where someone is given a 2 lap headstart in a 5 lap race: the odds are stacked against you.

So what then? If this is a genetic issue, and you can only play with hand with which you are dealt, what options do you have?

To this I say ok…

You may never look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club.

Or Chris Hemsworth in (anything!)

You might lack the ability to become as ripped and athletic as a Jessica Ennis or Alicia Baumgardner.

But here’s the thing: they are other people.

They AREN’T you. And you shouldn’t be comparing yourself to them in the first place.

Because no matter what your potential is, it’s undoubtedly more than where you’re currently at. Significantly more.

And the best version of you is both substantially stronger, leaner, fitter, more capable and more CONFIDENT than you are at your own baseline.

It might mean the road you have to take is longer…but so what? If it’s got to be earned, it can’t also be easy.

And the value your transformation will have to you versus someone that’s never had to work as hard for it will be much greater and worthwhile – you will experience a unique feeling that they never will.

And even better than that, the longer you pursue your best self, the easier it becomes, as every milestone becomes a level of physique you can then MAINTAIN much more easily than what was required to ATTAIN it.

That’s how it works.

So instead of focusing on others, apply smart goal setting, the correct expectations and the right mindset and program towards your goals.

And don’t let the empty noise of social media, celebrity or the domain of sport distract you.

Because it truly has no bearing on what you’re able to accomplish for yourself.

Jordan