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The influence of ‘bad’ genes on your weight is easier to counteract through training as you get older. At least in women, anyway.
‘Bad Genes’
You can think of your genes as a kind of baseline setting for your body. In your youth and early adulthood, this baseline setting has a significant influence on your body composition. Some people will have to put in much more effort for much less result when it comes to losing fat mass or building muscle mass, for example. We’ve compared this ‘lack of predisposition’ to climbing Mt. Everest with 80 kilos on your back. The summit sometimes seems unattainable, and sometimes it is, depending on where you set that bar yourself.
The fitness industry often relies on role models. People with ‘perfect’ proportions with motivating quotes saying that you can look like them too if you just work hard enough. However, when you see such a photo, you never know to what extent good genes contributed to this result and how much of it was due to a sporting lifestyle. This can lead to great disappointments if you copy an idol one-on-one in lifestyle but see something completely different in the mirror. You can go to the hairdresser and say, “I want that,” pointing to a photo of Beyoncé. Everyone understands that with that haircut, you still don’t look like Beyoncé. Yet we want people to believe that everyone can be a fitness model.
While that may be theoretically possible, in practice, it would mean a lifestyle for some that even the Spartans would see as excessive.
Lifestyle vs Predisposition
New research shows that the influence of genes compared to lifestyle decreases as you get older. Specifically concerning the impact on overweight in postmenopausal women. On the one hand, this may be ‘a little too late’ if you want to be a fitness model now. On the other hand, it means that ‘bad genes’ are not an excuse to retire obese. When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, lifestyle becomes an increasingly important factor.
This week, the results of new research involving more than 8200 women were published in
Menopause [1]. The research found that a genetic predisposition to overweight can be overcome by training as women age.
Previous studies had already shown that the influence of genes on BMI increases from childhood to early adulthood. However, there had been little research into this influence in later years. Whether this could be overcome by lifestyle changes including training was therefore not known. The study found that this influence decreased most significantly through training in the oldest age groups.
We are born with our genes, but this study suggests that we can improve our lives and health with exercise, regardless of genetics. As women age, exercise has been shown to improve muscle mass, balance, and bone strength. It also invigorates brain cells, is associated with less arthritic pain, and improves mood, concentration, and cognition. Regardless of age, genes, and amount of abdominal fat or BMI, regular exercise can improve health.
JoAnn Pinkerton, NAMS executive director
We already knew that strength training for the elderly has many benefits. That genes play a smaller role at that age may take away an excuse for not getting moving.
References
- The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). “Exercise beats genetics in determining amount of body fat.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 May 2018.
