I've been thinking a lot about the influence of genetics on high-level performance. However, when I look through the research, it's hard to find anything concrete. Some studies link specific genes or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to certain performance qualities, and others show that the same genes have no influence. I believe that part of the discrepancy here lies in the fact that studies done on the general population are likely to obscure the effects of inter-individual genetic differences. The reason for this is simple. Most people in the general population are sedentary or have a low training age, which means that studies on these individuals are unlikely to show and training-dependent effects or give us an accurate representation of where their performance potential is.
The influence of genetic differences is most likely to be seen in people who have challenged their inherent capacities the most. People who have pushed their bodies to its absolute limits. In other words,…
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