Don’t let your genetic inheritance stifle your potential. Out-train your DNA to surpass your goals
In the battle of nature versus nurture, nurture always wins. Look at the Olympic athlete Usain Bolt. He is visibly different to most other sprinters: taller, leaner and leggier. His competitors at the 100m starting line are, on the whole, shorter and stockier, because that’s the “ideal”. Your genes control variables such as your height, your weight and the length of your femur compared to your tibia and fibula. This much is luck. You inherit some genes from your mum and some from your dad. But Bolt beat all-comers. He was the exception – and you can be, too. Despite his predilection for Chicken McNuggets, Bolt trained hard.
I’m from North Carolina, US: and lab manager a big basketball state. But I’m just about 6ft with a big pair of shoes on. My genes make it unlikely that I’ll ever be scouted by the NBA.
But shorter players do make it. They shift the emphasis of their training to skill, learning to dribble, pass or shoot better.
This story is from the July 2018 edition of Men's Health UK.
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This story is from the July 2018 edition of Men's Health UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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