Performance goes deeper than you think
Performance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Genetics influence how you respond to food, training, and recovery, and when paired with testing like DEXA, VO2, and bloodwork, they can help athletes train smarter and focus on what actually moves the needle.
After a recent dive into Nutrigenomics, or how our genes interact with our nutrition, I realized that performance goes much deeper than I had even once thought.
Our genes are present in every cell in our body and they determine our physiological response to pretty much everything in our environment — from allergy response to nutrition, to performance, and even pain.
Your response and perception of caffeine is genetic. Your response to a certain diet can be genetic. The type of exercise that your body responds best to is genetic as well.
After a recent genetic test (along with a DEXA scan, VO2 max test, and bloodwork) I saw a new path to performance, both as a practitioner and for myself.
As an athlete, I have been able to actually understand what areas of my fitness and nutrition actually need to be improved upon to make a difference in how I train, feel, and move through life.
And as a practitioner, I can better understand an athletes path to success based on their goals, sport, and season, and use these various tests to their advantage when coaching on nutrition, training, and recovery.
For me, that genetic test gave context to why things are the way they are.
This particular test looked at 70 specific SNPs (aka genetic variations) that are well-studied and shown to have an effect on our body’s nutrition, fitness, and health.
Certain genetic variations are favorable, while some can be a bit of a warning sign to pay a little more caution to a specific area of your nutrition or training.
The 70 markers cover a lot, from nutrient metabolism (vitamins A, D, E, B’s, and nutrients like iron, choline, and folate, etc.), genetic predictability of lactose digestion and gluten sensitivity, cardio-metabolic health, body composition, and performance.
The data is pretty incredible.
Here are two interesting things I found out about myself.
1. Based on a genetic variation, I have an “enhanced” ability to perform well in strength and power exercises vs endurance-based training which was typical. This was affirmation to why I feel that I can make quick progress when lifting, whereas endurance has never been a strong point of mine and generally I prefer it less.
2. I also learned that I have an elevated risk for lower levels of vitamin D along with an elevated risk for low bone mass, a combo that if unchecked, points to osteopenia/porosis in the later years of life. Thankfully, I was able to identify this through a recent blood test, and DEXA scan, which showed I was vitamin D deficient, and had a slightly below average score for bone mineral density.
Both of these, among many other insightful findings that I would love to eventually talk about, showed to me the deep interconnectedness of nutrition, training, recovery, and ultimately your genetics on performance.
I chose to write about this because as an athlete you want to perform to the best of your ability, and doing genetic testing is another great tool that can set your nutrition and training apart from the others in your field.
It is certainly not the end-all be-all, and honestly not the first test I would choose for an athlete. But, for those who’ve already done most of the testing out there and are seeking that edge on the competition, this is the kind of stuff we are looking at.
Its the small things (literally DNA here) that have a large impact on the big picture: how you train, what nutrients you prioritize, how to decode bloodwork you’ve done, and what path to your ideal body composition you should take.
So if you’re reading this and have access to a nutrition-related genetic test, I highly encourage you to give them a try, and if you need some guidance on finding the right one, just let me know.
As always, let’s keep winning.
- Kai
