There are a
lot of athletes involved in the sport of “natural” bodybuilding
and fitness who like to claim that the majority of their success and
domination is due to “superior” genetics for
building “quality” muscle mass and maintaining low body fat
percentage. Is this
really the case ? Do they really have “God given genetics ?”
“Natural”
bodybuilders such as Dr. Layne Norton, Jeff Seid, Matt Ogus, The
Hodge Twins...etc like to attribute their success in the muscle world
to the same old factors: good genetics, consistent training and
“solid” nutrition. Similar claims are not surprising since
admitting usage of illegal drug products would be an action that may cost them a lot of
financial benefits while causing potential trouble with the state
authorities, depending on the country you live in. Who would do
that ? The option to hide behind the genetics card seems
to be much more convenient and much more profitable in the end of the
day.
Truth be
told most of those guys mentioned in the above paragraph have average
genetics like you and me. If you look at some before photos you see a
regular male who transform himself into smaller version of Hulk. At
the same time the majority of the people who follow the routines of
those same muscle Gods usually never reach similar success – not
even close. When that happens the usual response of the
“superior” individual would be:
“Sorry, I
have great genetics and you don't. I rock. You suck.”
How would
that make you feel? Like a loser? Well, don't worry! The truth is
that the person insulting you like that has one very
simple secret:
“Eat Clen Tren Hard !”*
“Eat Clen Tren Hard !”*
A good
example in this situation would be the famous idol of the youth -
Aziz Shavershian a.k.a Zyzz who was aspired to achieve a great
physique – “No Matter What !” Zyzz was able to transform
himself from an average weak teenager into a muscle monster. Take a
look:
Obviously
the boy in the before picture does not show any signs of “having
God given genetics”. However after many steroid cycles Zyzz became
an Internet sensation and role model for others thanks to his new
great physique and somewhat narcissistic and eccentric personality.
This is how
powerful anabolic steroids are. In case you are not convinced please
read the following post as well:Best Detransformations In Bodybuilding. Of course all of this does not mean that genetics are
not important - they are essential ! Muscle shape is something that
cannot be changed. For example some people have short arm flexors
(biceps) and therefor larger “biceps peaks” while there are also
individuals who were born with long biceps and therefor have smaller
biceps peaks. (More on that subject can be found here.)
Genetics are
also very important when it comes to handling the side effect of
anabolic steroids. Some people experience much worse problems caused
by the usage of similar substances. Beyond that everything is pretty
much speculation and the “genetic card” seems to be used as an answer to everything. It's not !
Of course
there is another side to every story and it's obvious that some
people seem to be more gifted when it comes to creating a “sexy”
body but there is more to genetics than just – physical aesthetics.
Will Smith, who is an extremely successful man by today's standards
and values, has a famous quote:
“Being
realistic is the most common path to mediocrity.”
This is
another scam that “successful” people like to throw at the
“peasants”. If you read the autobiography of Will Smith you will
see that a lot of his success had to do more with luck and favorable
circumstances than hard work. He was a millionaire before reaching 20
years of age but was soon close to bankruptcy after spending the
majority of his money without giving much thought. He was able to
bounce back up with the hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
The show was successful because
it was built around the natural charisma of the actor which is as you
know “genetic”.
The
idea is that if Will Smith did not have the looks, the charisma and
the sense of humor his
success would have not been possible.
Couple that with being born in America and having the right contacts
and you have a recipe for money making machine. 99% of the factors
that were just mentioned have nothing to do with hard work but more
with the way you were born. Do you think that Will Smith would have
been a movie star if he was born in Africa? Probably not, at least
not a Hollywood movie star. Will
Smith's case is a perfect example that in order to succeed you need
both – the right genetics to make in your industry as well as
the motivation and favorable fortune to be in a place
allowing you to express and develop your true character. How many are
born with that chance?
It seems
that today people are too lazy to think for themselves. Media, TV,
Hollywood, modern music, fairy tales...etc have caused an extreme
damage to the critical thinking of the society. We tend to believe in
highly unrealistic goals and phenomenons. Actually “the man”
wants us to believe that the sky is the limit and all you need to do
is “work hard” and "you will too achieve your dreams." Well,
please, tell that to the Chinese workers in Foxconn who work day and
night at the factory plants of Apple. It seems that hard work has
failed for them because none of them is happy or rich.
Truth be
told that's how the rich get richer – by selling the wrong formula
to the “little people”. The very same process is observed in the
muscle industry – steroid using athletes tell teenagers and adults
that the secret to success is – taking your supplements, training
hard and eating well. Power that with good amounts of old cliche
quotes, preferably from the books of Paolo Coelho, and you have a
recipe for hard working employees who are the ones making rich
people richer.
Genetics are
obviously extremely important because our genes define who we are.
There are many types of genes some of which are not really physical
traits. Obviously nobody chooses the following: gender, family,
height, zodiac sign...etc but there are also other genetic factors
such as: time and place of birth. Similar “specifications” have
already made a lot of choices for us. Obviously somebody who is 5'1
tall will never be the new Michael Jordan. It's impossible to happen.
For that reason this person will most likely not play basketball on
professional level – choice already predetermined by his/her genes.
When it comes to the muscle industry it's quite similar. However
since extreme hypertrophy is impossible to happen without high
concentration of muscle building hormones everybody who looks like a
model from a muscle magazine is abusing large amount of drugs. Some
may use less, some may use more but in the end of the day, regardless
of good or bad genetics, all muscle Gods look like an average person
without their magic elixir.
*”eat
clen, tren hard” - this is a popular urban phrase which is a
purposely misspelled version of “eat clean, train hard” and is meant to describe the idea that many are using illegal drugs such as Trenbolone (tren) and Clenbuterol (clen) in order to achieve their
physical goals instead of doing it the legal way – by Eating Clean
And Training hard.