IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

By Shane Robert

There is a growing trend in society, perhaps fueled by social media, that I find very disturbing. I'm sure you've seen it too; on your phone, on TV, billboards and magazine ads. It’s everywhere. If you've been living under a rock in blissful ignorance, allow me to fill you in: bad genetics.

Bad genetics, it seems, are everywhere and spreading like the plague. At least, that's becoming an all too common belief among Americans and, I’m sure, many other W.E.I.R.D countries. These pesky little genes that we inherit from our parents are, apparently, terrible and the cause of everyone’s lack of progress. Do genetics play a role in our bodies functions? Of course, I'm not for a moment saying that they don’t. Genetics can predispose you to being overweight and/or storing fat in unsightly areas like the stomach or make it hard to gain weight/put on muscle. On the flip side, some lucky jerks have genetics that mean they put on muscle extremely easily and rarely struggle with their weight. Personally, I have always struggled with gaining muscle and every bit of strength I have gained has been hard won. I also tend to lose it pretty quickly if I don’t train regularly. Conversely, I have always been pretty lean. Any time I wasn’t was because of choices I made in attempts to gain muscle. Even now, at 39, I have a very high daily calorie intake, compared to the wider population, just for maintenance. Trying to cut, therefore, is quite easy for me and I can do so on calories that most people bulk on.

For certain conditions, medical intervention is absolutely necessary. Type 1 diabetes, for example, is a genetic condition and requires exogenous insulin or you die. Primary hypogonadism means the testes or ovaries don’t function properly and require treatment for proper life functioning. The same is true for certain conditions involving blood pressure, cholesterol and, yes, even obesity. Most of these, with perhaps the exception of the blood pressure and cholesterol, are, on a population scale, quite rare. Just as rare are the people who are freakishly strong and muscular with minimal effort or the people who have insane metabolisms. Indeed, the vast majority of people have pretty average genetics. That’s how averages work. Of course, given the sheer amount of people on the planet, even someone with 1-in-a-million genetics, good or bad, can count themselves among a group of 8,000 or so other people, which can give the perception that a certain condition or trait is far more common than it is.

There is nothing that we can do to change our genetics. At least not at this time. They are what they are and they are not your fault. But they are your responsibility. That's right. It's your responsibility to deal with your genetics. Not your mom. Not your dad. Not your ancestors. Just you. Sometimes that means you are really going to have a tough road to hoe. All that means is you will have to work harder than other people. Welcome to life, it's not always easy.

While I may have an easier time getting lean than many, I have to do significantly more volume and frequency to get the same results as a lot of my clients. I sure wish I could make progress on 2-3 hard sets per week with lackluster effort on accessory movements. Alas, that will accomplish a whole lot of nothing as far as me getting stronger or building muscle is concerned. Similarly, many people will undertake a fat-loss diet and struggle with how little they can actually eat and still lose weight. They will look at someone like me and conclude that there must be something wrong with them because, surely, they should be able to eat as much as I do, or they shouldn’t feel as hungry as they do. Sadly, what others do has no bearing on what you need to do.

Once you accept your fate, whatever it may be, you are in a perfect place to make real, lasting change. Acceptance allows you to do the hard work, whether that means feeling hungry all the time for a while, or having to work twice as hard as your peers for the same progress. The nice part of this whole situation is that the longer you do the hard stuff, the “better” your genetics seem to get. They don’t change, obviously, but new habits become ingrained, and knowledge is gained that makes it all seem to happen easier than it used to. 

Your genes are what they are. You inherited them, and with some environmental exceptions, there isn’t a lot that you can do to change them. However, you can outwork them. No one has such bad genes that they would walk out of the forest after spending 80 days ALONE and still be fat. It just wouldn’t happen. If the skinniest 98-pound weakling starts progressive weight training while eating enough protein in a calorie surplus, they will gain muscle and get stronger. It may not be as much as other people, but it will certainly be more than if they never tried. When it comes to affecting changes to our body, your genes are not your fault, but they are your responsibility.