Is this an overrated topic ? I don’t think so. Before 2021, the only physique I transformed is my own, and within the past few years as a full time coach I have trained over a hundred individuals, some who have remained to this day with me.
So what do my insights suggest ?
Genetics is the most important factor in this game, but that being said, speaking from the lens of training individuals on average who are over the age of 25, the second most important factor is the history of physical activity they had from their childhood to their late teens.
Yes, it is true. If you have been sedentary your whole life, it will be pretty tough to build a physique, because as you age, your ability to accumulate and retain muscle mass will fade after a point in time. And on top of that, people are overwhelmed with responsibilities, they don’t have the time to train 4 days a week and get an optimum rest and to focus on nutrition !
More than the challenge in genetics, the hoard of responsibilities of a middle aged man would be the biggest obstacle when starting from scratch !
Now back to the main point, genetics, yes genetics is what will determine your bone structure, length of your calf muscles, and your muscle building potential. Honestly, I have only met a very few people where their genetics was really an obstacle, but even they progressed with time, some gave up though. I would say, genetics would play a really important role if you are a professional athlete, but most people have alright genetics to build a really good physique ! They just don’t know it.
Now halfwits who have not trained for a year or who know nothing about bodybuilding used to tell I did steroids at 20 21 years old, but the part they did not know, was my dad had a training history in rugger, football and bodybuilding, my mom was extremely active in athletics since a very young age, and in my case I started training from 13/14 years old. I would say I had above average genetics when it came to building muscle. Ps – My own brother also started training at a young age. I have told my sister she has muscle building potential, she’s not that interested.
There were kids in my school, and kids I’ve seen at different points in my life, who have had amazing genetics and displayed mature dense physiques even at early teenage years. But they didn’t use the edge they had ! Although we look upto these pioneers in bodybuilding who revolutionized the entire industry, there are probably many millions of people out there, who had better genetic potential, but who never tried to do anything about it.
Dorian Yates started bodybuilding at the age of 21, a late age to enter in this sport, but that didn't prevent him from winning 6 consecutive Olympias
We wouldn’t know what you would look like, till you try, hell I was a skinny scrawny kid at 13 years, I didn’t know I was capable of building 18 inch biceps by 20 years, although I damn well knew I would some day ! I used to have this really big shirt, used to look at it from time to time, my vision was to be big enough to wear it !
In summary, some people will find it hard to build muscle than others, people over the age of 30 usually find it difficult since they have more responsibilities, but everyone can, so just start, leave the rest to time.
Your Coach
Pasindu Liyanage
Profusion Fitness
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