THE LESS GIFTED CAN HAVE
SUCCESSFUL CAREERS
D
r Collins does go on to explain that it
is not only the best of the best that
will make careers out of sport. “At top
international level, only those with excellent
genetics and work ethic will be competitive.
Certainly hard working good athletes will be
able to become professional elite athletes, but
the best in the world will most likely be those
with the genes and work. ethic”
And it appears to be the same with
bodybuilding. There is a scientific paper by
Lombardo and Deaner (2014) that concludes
that you cannot coach speed. The conclusion
is that you can only coach someone to be
faster. In other words, without the natural
talent you will not be fast, but with proper
conditioning and technique fast athletes can
be faster. From everything that we have seen
in this amazing sport of bodybuilding it is the
same. You can't train your joints to be smaller,
you can't train your muscle bellies to grow
with the lines of a Phil Heath. Either you have
that or you don't. And if you do, a top-class
coach can turn you into a world-beating
champion.
However, this does not mean that the
Sergio Olivers, Flex Wheelers, Ronnie
Colemans and Phil Heaths of this world are
the only guys who will make it in the sport.
“The margins at the top level in all sports
are so small that one without natural ability is
unlikely to be competitive,” says Dr Collins.
“That is not to say that the most talented
athlete will necessarily be the one always
winning. A less talented athlete who is
prepared to work hard may well achieve
better than the athlete with the better talent
who doesn’t work as hard.”
WHAT DO GENES DETERMINE?
T
his is where genes have the final say.
There are three body types:
• Ectomorph
• Mesomorph
• Endomorph
And then there are variations of these
– ecto-meso or meso-endo and so on. You
are born with this and this is what you have
to work with. In the previous edition, we
looked at how Marius Dohne trains people
with different body types in the same weight
category. He uses differing strategies to get
the best out of different types of bodies.
Differing body shapes also require
different nutrition strategies, and so the
message is clear: yes, you are given the
genetic coding for a particular body type at
birth, but you can do everything possible,
knowing what kind of body you have, to
get the best results. Within the given body
types is varying concentrations of muscle
fibres and metabolism idiosyncrasies – some
people have far more fast-twitch fibres than
slow twitch fibres, for instance, and their
training will be different to someone who
has more slow twitch fibres.
“Learning what
your body is, how
it reacts to various
stimuli, and then
training as efficiently
and smartly as
possible to achieve
symmetry, proportion
and size will eek
out the best results
for your given
body type.”
People have varying activity from their
thyroid glands and natural hormones are
present in varying concentrations. Various
people have different sensitivities and
susceptibilities to anabolics and are super-
responders while others do not respond
in the same way. Some people respond
well to carbohydrates and cut fat with ease
while others store every potato in their love
handles.
Whether you have long muscle bellies
or not is decided at birth – some calves
attach much lower, and some guys have
such aesthetically pleasing muscle fullness
and lines it defies belief. Others have lats
that could initiate flight while others really
struggle with the lower lats. Ever wondered
why Johnny has bicep peaks like Everest but
you preacher curl until the cows come home
but just can't match him?
Some guys are genetically amazing in
certain body parts but struggle in others.
Some bodybuilders have monster legs and
struggle with arms, others have backs that
are near perfect but struggle from the front.
Learning what your body is, how it reacts
to various stimuli, and then training as
efficiently and smartly as possible to achieve
symmetry, proportion and size will eek out
the best results for your given body type.
This is called nature versus nurture. You
were born with what you have – nature.
Nurture is then making the environment
conducive to the best results – training,
nutrition and supplementation – in order to
bring up weaknesses and put on display the
best possible package.
www.muscleevolution.co.za
27