Is Your Muscle Building Potential Limited By Your Genes?
by Rick Mitchell
zone3
It is clear that certain traits are handed down to us by our parents
and unfortunately our ablility to grow muscles beyond certain limits is no
exception. That doesn't mean to say hard work and carefully planned
training won't have a positive effect on your physique - it just means
that some people will inherit a greater abundance of the favored physical
characteristics than others. Not everyone possesses the physical traits to
become a champion, but you can work wonders with the raw material you do
possess.
How responsive you will be to physical stimulation can be
predicted to a certain extent by examining your somatype or natural body
shape. Basically, there are three recognized body types:
1.
Endomorphs - these individuals tend to be squat with a round torso, thick
neck and short limbs.
2. Mesomorphs - these individuals tend to be
musclar with broad shoulders, powerful chest and limbs and little body
fat.
3. Ectomorphs - these individuals tend to be slim and are
usually tall with little muscle and body fat.
The ideal
bodybuilding physique tends more towards the mesomorph with broad
shoulders, narrow hips with arms and legs of medium length. Two further
inherited features have a role to play in determining muscle building
potential, and these are muscle fiber density and neurological efficiency.
Fiber density determines the size potential of a muscle while neurological
efficiency refers to the relationship between the nervous system and
muscles. This is relevant because, in all out effort genetically blessed
individuals have the ability to activate up to 50% of the fibers in a
given muscle compared to the average person's 30%. This allows greater
scope for stimulating growth.
The fact that there is no easy way to
measure fiber density or neurological efficiency is actually a blessing
because the incentive remains for all of us to train hard and strive for
improvement. Only a tiny minority of people have the genetic tools to
become champions but the rest of us can go a long way to fulfilling our
own personal goals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website
that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of
bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding
Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this
article.
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