Individual training according to DNA
In this article we will show you how your training decisions are influenced by genetics and how to adapt your training to your individual needs. My name is Pavol Pavlovič, I am the founder of the DNA4FIT brand and among other things a former long-time coach of top youth from 14-18 years old. For many years of experience in the training process of children and adults, I can say with certainty that only individual training, even in team sports, is the right way to effectively use the potential of each athlete. Let's have a small taste of what genetic analysis can do today.
Our genetic analyses are at the disposal of the world's most successful athletes and Olympic champions in individual and team sports. Today, genetic analyses are an integral part of selecting the right sport for children from an early age, developing individual training plans, and setting and achieving goals in sport and life.
Individual training based on genetic facts
In the seventh chapter of the genetic analysis of BODY4FIT+ we look in detail at more than 25 genes, the knowledge of which means completely new knowledge about the athlete regardless of age and performance as well as the necessary adjustments in the individual training plan based on the facts. In this chapter we cover muscle structure and muscle volume, fat burning and proportion of non-fat mass, VO2max, soft tissue injury risk, recovery and muscle fatigue, the warrior gene, and cardiac capacity.
DNA-based recommendations
"Based on the athlete's genetic makeup, recommendations can be made regarding training plans, nutritional needs, recovery and will guide the athlete to appropriate training. The only appropriate training for an athlete is individual." Pavol Pavlovič, CEO DNA4FIT
When looking at the results of a genetic analysis, it is important for me to know whose results I am looking at. My first priorities are, of course, the health aspects of the results and incorporating the recommendations into my daily routine as preventive measures of a healthy lifestyle and personal health care measures. When I am looking at the results of an athlete or prospective athlete, then depending on age, gender and sport, it is possible to start constructive communication right away at the athlete, parent, and coach level. In the case of team sports it is possible, and I consider this a prerequisite for success, to create micro-groups of athletes with similar requirements for appropriate training time, nutrition, supplementation, health monitoring, education, recovery and other useful components of the training process. For individual sports, it is possible to get even more out of the training process by fine-tuning the details.
When I was an active coach, the training process was not ideal and the system was not perfect. There was no such thing as an individual training plan or the word individual was meant differently. What we could do with individuals who were already performing above standard was more or less game development or working with strengths and weaknesses. Today we know so many useful facts from the results of DNA analysis that it is really up to the athlete and their coach what they get out of it.
I will also give some concrete examples from practice:
1. We know that many athletes drink coffee or caffeinated drinks as a performance stimulant. Athletes with one or two mutated copies of the CYP1A2 gene metabolise caffeine slower and as a result they experience a greater effect when consuming coffee. However, this is not as beneficial as it might seem, as their blood pressure will rise more after consuming coffee than that of people with a fast caffeine metabolism. Researchers have shown in numerous studies that athletes with slower caffeine metabolism are more susceptible to developing health problems associated with elevated blood pressure, suffering from insomnia is more common. Athletes with slow caffeine metabolism need to supplement caffeine.
2. We know that physical activity causes oxidative stress in the body through increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition to ROS production, exercise affects the body's complex immune system and can have a cascading effect on the inflammatory response, which can lead to chronic inflammation. Therefore, in athletes with slow recovery, based on analysis of a specific set of genes, we insist on a change in the training cycle, especially during intense training. In addition, we increase antioxidant supplementation.
3. Muscle fatigue can be one of the main obstacles that prevent athletes from reaching their maximum potential. During exercise, contracting muscles produce lactate and hydrogen ions as a result of a process called glycolysis. Small amounts of lactate function as a temporary energy source. However, the buildup of lactate during high-intensity exercise leads to a burning sensation in the muscles and limits muscle contractions, leading to muscle fatigue. If we find that an athlete has slow lactate removal we will suggest effective supplementation before, during and after exercise.
Not everyone can be a successful athlete or a successful coach.
In my opinion, an athlete as well as a coach is defined by several parameters - genetic predisposition, intelligence, knowledge, experience and talent. In the training process, other qualities of the athlete are revealed, which are important secondarily, and it should not be a problem for a top coach to develop them at a sensitive age and steer them in the right direction.
Genetic predispositions, intelligence and talent are prerequisites that are inherited, but it is possible to develop them to "perfection". Knowledge and continuous learning are an integral part of the systematic development of the individual. Experience comes with age. The coach's role is to use his or her intelligence, knowledge, experience, talent as well as a genetic predisposition for development of the athlete. All of these parameters are then enjoyed by observers in the form of the experience of an individual´s or team's sport performance.
Sport for fun and top sport
At some point in time, major decisions have to be made about what sport to choose or not to choose. Then, it is important to consider what goals to set and to work with the individual training plan as an open system into which many variables enter. It is also necessary to know what level of physical activity is beneficial for the organism and what is already beyond the limits of the individual's organism, and how to proceed in such a case. Physical activity generally affects our health, but some sport activities are more suitable for some individuals than for others. For example, genetics has a great influence on the nutritional needs of an individual and on various athletic characteristics such as strength, power, endurance, muscle fiber size and composition, flexibility, neuromuscular coordination, temperament, and more. From DNA analysis, we can also discover facts about metabolism, nutrient requirements, cardiovascular health, and up to 58 other unique analyses in total, and help with decisions about what sport is appropriate, what level of performance is beneficial to the body, and what needs to be done in order to achieve the best level.
Genetically brilliant with Matej Tóth
The warrior gene
Despite years of preparation and training, some individuals just fail under pressure, while others seem to thrive under pressure and adrenaline. The answer is hidden in the COMT gene. The product of this gene is responsible for breaking down adrenaline. The consequence of a variant in this gene is that some are "fighters" while others are more "worried" by nature. Warriors have a very active COMT enzyme; therefore, their adrenaline breaks down rapidly, resulting in low baseline adrenaline levels. The worried ones have very little active COMT enzyme production, leading to a higher baseline adrenaline level. Everyone has some sort of an optimal adrenaline level. The worried ones are probably already at their optimal level, so an automatic increase in adrenaline in a challenging situation will make them lose control. Their hands start to sweat, their muscles start to shake, their motor movements don't work, their brain is overloaded, resulting in unfocused thinking, and they suffer from tunnel vision. Looking at a fighter whose adrenaline levels are normally low, an equally challenging situation will cause his adrenaline to spike to optimal levels.
Sleep cycle
One of my favorite genetic analyses is the Sleep Cycle. The first step to sleeping better and thriving is understanding our internal clocks and therefore knowing if we are a morning, mid or night type. It is particularly popular because we can predict in childhood whether an individual will find morning or evening workouts appropriate, for example, and thus essentially eliminate inappropriate sports. Imagine 20 children at a morning training session for e.g. hockey before school. Half of these kids are literally still asleep at practice and their bodies are going through stressful changes. In the short term it's just a problem but in the long term it's literally a disaster. The combination of stress and other genetic predispositions such as heart capacity, risk of soft tissue injury, propensity for inflammation, recovery, and many others are unwanted "side effects" of an improperly chosen sport. And after the training they still have to go to school...We will be addressing this issue more in future articles. DNA analysis can provide information about the prerequisites for success in sport for a not very high price, and for the more genetically gifted also recommendations that will definitely helpful on their way to achieving their goals.
Sprinter or endurance runner?
Athletes have two different types of muscles, these are type I and type II muscles. Sprinters tend to have type II muscles, or fast muscle fibres, or more active muscle fibres in their body, while endurance runners tend to have more of type I muscles, or slow-twitch muscle fibres.
During the study of neuromuscular diseases, Australian researchers began to pay attention to the alpha-actinin gene (ACTN3), the product of which is important for the contraction of muscle cells. They found that the product of this gene is present only in fast-twitch muscle fibers. They identified a mutation that causes the product of this gene to become inactive, and therefore people with this mutation do not have ACTN3. In research involving elite athletes, the researchers found that sprinters usually have two active copies of the ACTN3 gene, while endurance runners have two inactive variants of this gene. This proved the hypothesis that an active ACTN3 gene is required for the presence of muscle explosiveness. In the second research, the researchers showed that fast-contracting muscle fibres in which the ACTN3 gene is inactive use more oxygen than those with at least one active copy of this gene. The higher oxygen demand slows the muscles down. Muscle fibres with an inactive ACTN3 gene are likely to be weaker and smaller, but they also get tired much later.
Personalised nutrition - the basis for an optimal diet
Although 99 percent of our genetic make-up is exactly the same, there are approximately ten million genetic variations between individuals. For this reason, the nutritional needs of each individual are specific and are the subject of the new field of nutrigenetics - personalised nutrition. A personalised approach to nutrition is fundamentally important and absolutely essential to ensure an optimal diet, as well as your personal physician, who knows you, is essential to ensure your health. Diet is also one of the factors you can use to influence our bodies, and it is also the factor that is easiest to influence. A system called the glycemic index has been developed to rate individual foods to determine their effect on raising blood sugar levels. In the DNA analysis, you will be introduced to the main components of the diet - macronutrients and the importance of the vitamins and minerals analyzed - micronutrients. The diet we recommend as a part of the DNA analysis is not chosen randomly, but is based on your genetic makeup. A diet based on your individual DNA analysis takes into account your personal characteristics and allows you to eat what your body really needs and what is harmful to it instead.
What could you have learned?
If you are an athlete and you know about your sports genetic predispositions from genetic analysis, you will be able to conduct your training significantly more efficiently than before. The diet we recommend to you in the form of a personalised eating programme is not chosen randomly, but is based on your genetic make-up, takes into account your personal characteristics and allows you to eat what your body really needs, while identifying what is harmful to you in your diet. If you are a coach of individual or team sports, then knowing the facts and knowledge about the genetic predispositions of your charges will open up a whole new range of possibilities for setting and achieving goals. Individual training, tailored diet and properly set goals also according to DNA are the prerequisites for success.
Read more:
Find out what sport you will excel in I - muscle structure, strength training, warrior gene
Find out in which sport you will excel II - muscle volume, fat-free mass, heart capacity
Find out in which sport you will excel III - muscle fatigue, risk of injury, regeneration
Find out in which sport you will excel IV - aerobic potential