Ep 4. Embracing Your Genetics

Firstly, we dive into the myth of 'body types' and why this idea is rooted in racism and xenophobia.

Secondly, we look at the various traits that can be identifiably linked to our genes and what (if anything) we can do about them.

Finally, we give a rundown of some bro calculators that can help you assess what your potential for muscular development might be

US Navy body fat calculator: https://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html

FFMI Calculator: https://ffmicalculator.org/

Casey Butts formula: https://www.fitmatic.com/body/calculator/muscular-potential-calculator

Menno Henselmans' calculator: https://mennohenselmans.com/ffmi-calculator/

Transcript

This is a podcast for people who's dreams are bigger than their genes

And you can call.me Brody Jenner - because I too am not talking to Kaitlyn right now

So todays episode is all about learning to accept your genetic limitiation and also learning to embrace your genetic potential. 

And these are really two sides of the same coin because the path to loving yourself and your body first begins by accepting what it cannot be or do, and so much of our self hatred is rooted in resisting this. 

So we're going to start by talking about this idea of categorizing bodies into set types and why this is actually complete nonsense 

Then were going to get into actual genetic variation and how you can identify where you might fall and what that might allow you to achieve. And were going to really focus in on identifying what is within and what is outside of your control. 

And finally I'll go over some bro science shit about figuring out your muscular development and muscular potential.

To start of with I want to talk about the myth of somatotypes- which is this idea that most people can fall into one of three body types. 

What are the ‘three body types’ 

Endomorph- bigger frames, prone to have more body fat and have a harder time losing it

Mesomoprh- naturally strong and muscular with a narrow wasit and wide shoulders. Easy time gaining muscle and staying lean. 

Ectomorph- naturally thin build with difficult adding muscle and fat. 

On the surface this sounds plausible to us. Because of confirmation bias- meaning it sounds like it must be true because it matches what we already believe. We all can easily categorize everyone we know into these body types and we can easily categorize ourselves into them as well. So it sounds good, and our brains are pattern seeking machines that always want to create the simplest possible rules so that it has to work as little as possible to recognize what it sees. 

You’ll see a lot of marketing on the internet (and in other places) that tries to sell you in the idea of eating or training specifically for your body type- but there's a problem with this, theres no fucking thing as a body type- there are 7 billion bodies on this earth and all of them are different. We can’t neatly categorize people into one of three categories that will magically explain how your body is meant to work. 

Looking deeper into this concept you actually find that the root of this idea is pretty fucking dark and is rooted in good ole fashioned racism and zenophobia

Its that meme where the scooby gang takes off the hood- it was racism the whole time. 

This concept of somatotypes originates with a psychologist in the 1940’s by the name of William Herbert Sheldon- note here that this doctor wasn’t someone who specialized in internal medicine, or orthopedics, or endocrinology, or anything that might actually explain the shape of someones body- but someone who was concerned with the mind. And his goals as it turns out was to link body types to criminal behavior. 

So  in his version of these body types the Mesomoprh is described as competitive, extroverted and tough 

The ectomorph is described as being intelligent - but also anxious and introverted

The endomoprhy is described as outgoing and friendly, but also lazy and selfish. Therefore this type was most likely to be a criminal

These are not body types these are stereotypes 

So Sheldon got his inspiration from the so called study of phrenology- which was this idea that the shape of your skull determined your personality, your mental health, your moral character- just absolute bullshit

Another inspiration was Physiognomy- which is a similar idea where people thought your facial details indicated these things- similarly bullshit

But Sheldon thought he could take the concepts of looking at the shape of faces and skulls to determine characteristics and apply it to the shape of the whole body. His earcly research involved photographing thousand of male undergrads naked from the neck down without their consent- the photos were originally taken for a posture study but sheldon co-opted them.

And where all these ideas culminate is whit the Eugeneics movement- which If you dont know was this idea that we should seek to create a superior human race by only selectively breeding humans with desireabe traits. In this country, and in others people who had mental health issues or physical disabilities or deformities were forcibly sterilized so they could not reproduce. 

And some of the people who were forcibly sterilized were not ill or disabled in any way they were just undesireable. Black and brown people, native peoples, imigrants from eastern and southern europe, jewish people…

So this doesnt happen in a vaccum. Its based on the idea that physical superiority exists.

As I mentioned Sheldon was developing these theories in the 1940’s- but what else was happening in the 1940’s? Well over in Europe Adolph Hitler was taking eugenics to its logical conclusion by sterilizing and killing millions of people and comitting outright genocide. 

So looking back at these three body types we can see how they might be influenced by certain racial steretoypes- black and brown people often have thicker bodies and were considered lazy by white people- Jewish people are sterotyped as being skinny and anxious and neurotic, etc.

So theres no scientific basis for this idea- and it’s also deeply problematic and yet we still see it all over the place. 

It's wild that you can still see this concept referenced by healthcare providers, institutions, accrediting bodies, and other people who should probably know better.  If I search one of these terms I get articles from universities and medical clinics and it is just bananas- but its becuase its an easy concept to sell that gives some easy answers about how to “fix” your body. 

So anytime you see someone trying to sell you on this idea realize that they do not know what theyre talking about and run in the opposite direction. 

So now through modern genetics- and we’re really only beginning to unpack our genome and how genes are expressed- we’re able to look into the range of human bodies across a bunch of different metrics. 

But the other factor is that just because we have a gene or gene sequence for a particular trait that doesnt actually mean its going to show up in our bodies. 

For example- Human height is genetic- but only to a point. So within your genetics for height there is a a deviation of up to three or more inchees on either side, so two people with identical genetics might be 5’6 and 6 foot. 

Because height is multi-factoral- so the height you end up has to do with childhood conditions and nutrition and injuries and some degree of randomness. 

Like I imagine I would probably be taller than 5 foot 8 if I didnt eat mostly just cereal, pasta, fries and candy, and If I had gotten more sleep because I was a bit of an insomniac- and waking up early for school was always a struggle because I didnt naturally want to go to bed until midnight or later.  But Im fine being a bit short- because it doesnt negatively impact my life in any meaningful way. Though there are definitely financial advantages to being taller.

So going back to those three body types- I have two brothers and one of them is like your typical ectomoprh, and one of them is like your typical endomorph, and I was naturally closer to a mesomorph- but most of our DNA is very very similar but we all have different body shapes. 

So height is an obvious genetically influenced trait,

Another one is bone structure and bone size- you can usually tell your bone size by measuring your ankles and your wrists- but also your neck to some extent. 

In terms of bone structure- you might have hips that are wider than your shoulders, or vice versa, or maybe they’re exactly the same

People with bigger bones and wider bone structure often carry more weight, and also can usually carry more muscle mass as well. So that line that Cartman has in south park about how hes not fat- he’s bigboned is at least partially true. 

We also have limb length- which how your arms and legs differ and also the length of your torso compared to your legs and where your hips are.  People with longer arms are usually better at deadlifting where people with longer legs are better at squatting. Because the length of your limbs determines the torque necessary to produce a movement so it goes back to fulcrums.

We also have a genetically determined propensity to store body fat- people of african, Polynesian or mesoamerican decent tend to store more fat, while people of east asian descent tend to store less fat- but not always, there is body diversity everywhere in every culture ethnic group. 

To date they've found at least 40 different genes that influence body fat storage and they might be active or inactive to different degrees depending on any number of other factors.

So most bodies have a set fat point where the body will easily get down to that point but trying to get past it is going to be a real struggle because your body just doesnt want to be any smaller. Yours might be bigger or it might be smaller- neither one is bad or good, it just is what it is. But knowing that your body doesnt want to be less than 20% body fat might be very freeing for you becuase it will hopefully allow you to let go of that expectation. 

In my family- I look at old photos of my grandparents generation and great grandparents and EVERY one is very sturdy looking- fat by contemporary standards and compared to them I’m on the slimmer side- so I know that Im not meant to be particularly lean because my direct ancestors were bigger long before the so called obesity epidemic, and fast and processed food because some people are just fatter and they always have been. And I should also note that most of these family members lived well into their 70s and 80s so it clearly wasn't a health concern. 

Another thing we can look for genetically is wether or not we have endurance or power capabilities..there is a set of genes and most people have one of each, one endurance gene and one power gene, but some people only have the endurance gene- and these are the people who are great at running long distances, or maybe cycling or swimming, cross country skiing. 

And then some people only have the power gene- which is also called the sprinter gene. So they can run really fast for short stretches but they can't run a marathon. Or they can compete in powerlifting or strong man.

So in my DNA test I can identify that I only have the sprinter gene so I'm naturally going to be good at generating a lot of force over a short distance but I sure as fuck can't run more than a few miles. And again- it's equally good to have any combination of these genes but knowing what you have might make it easier for accept that you're probably never going to be a triathlete or whatever.

Similarly the genes for getting strong aren't the same as getting big muscles. A lot of people who can get big muscles also get pretty strong but some people definitely don't.  Alternatively you can look at some really elite powerlifters and strength athletes who can squat like 500 plus pounds but who don't look like it at all. 

You also have variance in how your connective tissue grows and develops. Your muscles might be able  to lift a lot of weight but your tendons absolutely cannot. And your tendons tend to grow slower that your muscles so it's really common for people to outgrow their connective tissue and get Injured. Especially among steroid users. 

Speaking of steroids- you also have genetic variability in how you respond to androgens (male sex hormones). Some people hyper respond and can get huge doing only a small amount of drugs and some people can take a ton of drugs and barely get any bigger. And everything in between. So while we're definitely going to cover this in future episodes just know that if you're having trouble gaining muscle that throwing a bunch of drugs into the mix may not even work for you. 

So there are more genetic factors out there but these are kind of the main ones that shape how our bodies look. 

So in  gay culture there are a few aesthetics that are clearly acceptable and considered desirable and. Thinness has always been desirable, especially in younger gay men- it's almost an expectation. I remember going out at 18 and feeling so so fat compared to the shirtless bodies I saw at the club. 

Muscularity- particularly in older men has also always been desirable. It tends to be the dominant look aside from the slim barely legal one. 

But our bodies may not look anything like that and we are still deserving of being loved and appreciated and being though of as sexy. 

And something I think about alot when I think that I need to change my body to be more attractive to others is that the kind of person who would only want to date me or sleep with me when I'm looking really good is probably not the type of person who I would want to be in a relationship with at all. Think on that..

I think the rise of bear subculture has been empowering in a lot of ways because its been a way of making other bodies sexy, particularly bigger bodies- but I have also noticed that the mainstream bear asthhetic has definitely shifted from hairy men with bellies to a much more muscled look and lower body fat percentage so it's interesting to see how even subcultures regress towards the mean as they become more mainstream. 

I think what's also been really interesting is how only fans and other sites with user generated porn content has democratized porn and allows people who don't fit into the conventional mold of a commercial porn star can still make money and get people off.  And while the people who probably make the most in these sites are the conventionally attractive, lean ones, I don't think that's as universally true. 

By the same token we also need to recognize that bigger bodies are still often fetishized in ways that might be a little gross. Because it's an extension of fetishizing the other or the exoctic when these are all just normal bodies.

So If we're struggling to accept our bodies as they already are we need to learn to practice  body neutrality.

We probably all know what body positivity is and can definitely put two and two together to define body negativity- but body neutrality is of course a middle path. 

Body neutrality focuses not on how your body looks but what it can do. And recognizes sometimes youre not going to like the way your body looks, and sometimes you might not like the way your body functions or what it can't do- especially if you're disabled or have chronic health concerns- so we don't have to love our bodies.

But we do need to accept them for how they already are. If you find yourself having negative thoughts when you look in the mirror- instead of saying 'I hate my hips, or I hate my nose' you're going to actively replace that with a neutral thought such as 'I have a normal human body' or 'my nose is a normal human nose'

And this is a practice - it's something you have to work on and you're probably not going to just magically stop thinking negative thoughts about yourself or your body but what you can do is learn to instantly identify that negative thought and replace it with a neutral thought.

So it's a great idea if you're struggling with recurring thoughts to write then down and come up with a neutral replacement thought and actually rehearse out saying those things to yourself when the need arises. You don't have to spend a lot of time doing this- maybe just a few minutes a day at most- and soon enough it will become something you do and it will genuinely help you.

And sometimes you're going to fall back on your old negative thoughts and lose the ability to challenge and replace them- but you can always return to this active thought management work at any time with only a very little effort. 

…..

Alright so while I obviously think that practicing body neutrality is a good tool for people to learn to accept yourselves just as you are

But if you're chasing asthhetic goals - and a lot of us are chasing asthhetic goals- including myself to a big extent- then we might want some tools to assess where we actually are and where we can go. 

Firstly I had intended to start this section off by talking about body composition assessment. And that becaame so complicated I had to spin it off into a separate episode. That episode actually was released before this one so if you haven't please go back and listen to that. 

So the best tool for assessing your muscular development is the 

FFMI- Fat Free Mass Index.

This is a formula that combines your height weight and body fat percentage to place you on a scale of muscular development- 

So we had to talk about body fat percentage first because you need to know that number In order to be able to get your FFMI-.

And if you've listened to that episode you know that it's impossible to get an accurate body fat percentage so everything we're going to be talking about here is approximate..so if you're using the FFMI you should probably input a few different body fat percentages based on the range you think you're in to get a good range of results.

So for men the scale is between 17 at the low end and 25 on the very high level

For women it's between 13 and 20.

It can go higher and it can lower but 99% of people are going to fall in this range.

And of course just like BMI or any other scale that uses sex as criteria it's going to get very confused when someone is trans or non-binary or otherwise not cis gendered. I would love to see something more expansive but it might be really hard with how many different options there are in gender identity and expression. 

So the scale for men goes anything under 18 is below average or underdeveloped. 

From 18-20 would be considered average. 20-22 would be above average. 23 and above is superior and beyond 26 you're almost certainly using steroids. Apparently the biggest number ever recorded by a confirmed natural lifter was about 28…which is where most pro bodybuilders who juice are at- but it is possible to get there naturally with very exceptional genetics.

I discovered this metric 6 or so months ago and I was kind of shocked that I had never heard of it during my ten years of training professionally - but it's probably because I was working more with the general population rather than specifically with bodybuilders. 

And usually when people in the fitness community use this scale it's to try and assess if someone has achieved their physique naturally of not. So the theory goes if you're a 25 or above youre highly likely to be on steroids. In fact the average steroid user scores 24.8. 

So what shocked me was when I entered my numbers I came back with a score of 25.6- so looking a the statistical distribution I'm basically in the top maybe .5% or maybe even the top tenth of a percent. 

And this was when I was completely natural, no testosterone. And I also was still adding muscle so I think it's actually possible for me to get to that 28 number naturally…but I'm doing  TRT so I'm no longer natural so we'll never know…

But for me finding out that I was already beyond what the most elite natural bodybuilders can achieve was super reaffirming. Because when my body dysmorphia crops up I always think my muscles are just a little thicker than average but statistically I'm not even close to average. 

And for most of the past 20 years I haven't been specifically training to get big because I've focused on strength and sports performance 

This is also a good tool for potentially finding out how much more muscle you can add into your body- but there's two other tools you can use to get this potential

So the first one is called the  Casey Butt formula: https://dioxyme.com/pages/maximum-muscular-potential-calculator

This formula uses your height and weight but adds in your wrist and ankle circumstance because those areas are where you can reliably measure bone size because we don't have much fat or muscle in those places.

At the end you'll get a maximum number for how much lean mass you can gain for your frame size. It will also give you your projected maximum measurements so you can say ‘oh, looks like I could potentially add another 3 inches to my arms’ or whatever 

So this is why I say I could probably get to 28 on the FFMI- naturally because imputing this maximum mass number into the FFMI calculator than I get a FFMI of 28.5 and that would maybe be the highest ever recorded…so apparently I have freak genetics for muscle size.

One more step up from this is a calculator developed by a well known Internet exercise scientist Menno Henselemans.

This takes additional measures and spits out your maximum muscular mass but also says what parts of your body are underdeveloped or overdeveloped.

So you can find that here: 

https://mennohenselmans.com/ffmi-calculator/

And ultimately these tools are a fun way of assessing what your ultimate muscular potential might be. And you can use them to set some goals for yourself ,But of course don't take these numbers as gospel and allow yourself to get discouraged if you can't hit them.

So for me, now that I know I can potentially add another 20lbs of muscle I'm about to head into a bulk phase to see what I can achieve this winter. And I'm definitely torn a bit because realistically I could probably spend a year or more if dedicated bulking to try and get to my maximum potential - but doing so means I'm going to have to go into a longer cut period to get back to a body fat range I'm happy with.  But the Internet consensus - or rather my social media followers think I should bulk.

I'm just not sure I can realistically eat almost 4000 calories a day….

So we do have to add drugs into the mix and say that unequivocally using steroids will allow you to push or exceed your genetic limitations for muscle size and for some people that may be worth the risks. 

I'm going to be covering both testosterone and Steroids in a few weeks and I can dive into that realities of what they do and don't do and hopefully help people make safer choices. 

So that's it for this episode. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Threads at Gaybroshit (all one word).

And leaving a review and a like of this podcast really helps me grow the audience, and of course sharing this show with people you think might enjoy it helps as well. 

Bye bros.