Most athletes are willing to do whatever it takes to figure out their full potential and how they can

be better at their sport. An easy way to help your clients get a head start is with DNA testing.

How much can a DNA cheek swab really tell a person? More than just ancestry, that’s for sure.
Read on to learn how you can help clients assess their DNA and use that information to maximize
their potential.

The Relationship Between Genetics and Athletic Performance

When it comes to genes, they aren’t going to tell the future, such as if your client will be an elite
athlete or not. They can, however, indicate genetic potential. For example, an elite sprinter may
have the genes to potentially break world records.

Though, without the proper diet, lifestyle, environmental factors, training, and recovery, they will
never come close to hitting their goals.

A person’s genetics are responsible for about 40% of what they do and the other 60% is based on
their diet, lifestyle, environmental factors, and training. That can be a game-changer knowing
exactly how to use a person’s DNA to help them reach their goals.

A genetic test for sports performance will tell a person how to use their DNA to their advantage to
hit their goals. When looking at DNA testing results for a person with athletic goals, it’s going to
include the following areas:

Macronutrient utilizationMental and physical baseRecovery and injury risk

Macronutrient Utilization

Nutrition for athletic performance is a big part of an athlete’s success. If they don’t have the proper
fuel for their body to perform, they may not be able to. Or, they will find a way, yet they start to
compensate and end up getting injured.

Depending on their sport, body composition may play a bigger role for some than others. If you
look at bodybuilders, for example, body composition is very important. For them to excel, it comes
down to understanding the precise details of what their body needs to perform optimally.

The four key areas include the following:

ProteinsFatsCarbohydratesCaffeine Metabolism

Protein
For individuals with sports performance goals, protein intake is going to be an important topic.
Many people think the more protein the better, but DNA tells us how important a high protein diet
is to an individual.

Athletes tend to need more protein than the average person. It is vital for muscle growth and repair
after training and competing. What our DNA tells us is exactly how much they need.

“Normal” genotype: a high protein diet isn’t going to necessarily be beneficial; the body stores
unused protein as body fat“Enhanced” genotype: benefits from a high protein diet because their
body uses protein more effectively

Fats

Fats are important in the diet for all athletes and especially so for endurance athletes. Endurance
athletes rely on fat oxidation for performance. Fats are essential for the body to function optimally.

Understanding a client’s DNA can help a trainer understand how much fat a person needs in their
diet.

“Normal” genotype: required a normal level of fat in the diet“Low” genotype: requires a low level of
fat in the diet

This is important to take into consideration because overall, athletes require more fat in their diet
than sedentary people to fuel activity. Also, too low of a fat diet can cause a hormone imbalance
that in turn will negatively impact sports performance and recovery.

Carbohydrates

For athletes, carbohydrates can be extremely important for their performance. They utilize
glycogen to fuel activity, especially high-intensity activity.

They can fall either into the normal genotype or the enhanced genotype. That will determine what
percentage ranges of carbohydrates in their diets. Also, those with an enhanced genotype will
need most of their carbohydrates coming from complex carbs rather than simple carbs.

Caffeine Metabolism

Caffeine is often a staple in an athlete’s diet. However, what many don’t realize is based on their
DNA, it may not be beneficial to their performance.

People can fall either into a slow or fast genotype for caffeine metabolism. Simply showing the rate
at which their body processes it.
If they have a fast metabolism which is most people, they will see a positive impact on their
performance by taking it as a pre-workout.

Those who have a slow metabolism for caffeine may see negative effects on their performance if
they take in too much prior to working out. These individuals generally should stay under 100mg of
caffeine and should avoid any caffeine later in the day.

Mental and Physical Base

A person’s DNA can even show things that may notice physically. These include:

Intrinsic motivation to exercisePower and endurance potential

Intrinsic Motivation to Exercise

While it’s often assumed athletes are always motivated to exercise, that’s not always the case.
DNA can tell a lot about what motivates a person to exercise.

There are those with a more likely genotype for intrinsic motivation to exercise. This simply means
they enjoy the process of training and improving. They can continue to work hard without a
specific event they are training for.

To the trainer, this means a client is more self-sufficient. If you give them stuff to work on outside
of their training sessions, they will likely do it.

The other type is those who have a less likely genotype for intrinsic motivation to exercise. These
individuals need something more to help them stay motivated. They may need an event or more
tangible goals to keep training. They also benefit from training partners for accountability.

Understanding the two types of motivation is vital to the personal trainer in how to approach each
athlete to keep them continuing toward their goals.

Power and Endurance Potential

Different sports have different needs when it comes to an athlete needing either more power or
more endurance. DNA testing tells us a lot about an athlete’s potential for those areas.

Remember that DNA accounts for 40% of genetic potential then the other 60% is dependent on
lifestyle, environmental factors, training, diet, etc.? So, while an athlete may have the DNA for
more power potential it does not mean endurance training is useless, and vice versa.
There are three categories a person can fall into:

Higher power Equal power and enduranceHigher endurance

Those with a higher endurance genotype typically have a higher makeup of slow-twitch muscle
fibers. Making them more apt to go towards sports like cycling, running, and swimming.

Those with a higher power genotype typically have a higher makeup of more fast-twitch muscle
fibers. Making them more apt to excel at sports like sprinting, baseball, football, tennis, golf, and
competitive lifting.

Then there are those with a 50/50 split and they make up most of the population. They typically
have an equal distribution of slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers.

As a personal trainer, this is important to understand. Your client’s goals may not match up with
their muscle fiber types and that is where the training becomes so important. Just because they
are more apt to have one type of muscle fiber type doesn’t mean that through training, they can’t
change how they perform.

Inflammation and Recovery

It’s important to remember recovery is just as important as both training and nutrition. For the
athlete, DNA can show their risk for systemic inflammation, which is the type of inflammation that
cannot be seen in the body. It can hinder athletic performance, but with proper programming of
recovery, athletes can reduce it. This is another area for which DNA can provide insight.

An athlete may fall into one of three categories of systemic inflammation:

NormalAbove averageWell above average

All athletes can benefit from following a balanced diet and including recovery practices between
training sessions. However, those with the above average or well above average genotypes need
to prioritize those things to stay healthy and injury-free.

If you are interested in learning more about how to understand a client’s DNA results and apply
that to sports performance, check out ISSA’s DNA-Based Fitness Coach course. Step up your
training to improve how you help clients meet their goals!