A team member of mine recently published a paper on the effect of genetics on aerobic trainability. This led me to want to share why research in sports science doesn’t just affect athletes — it affects everyone.
Craig Pickering, Olympic athlete and head of sports science at DNAFit recently published a research paper (with John Kiely, Bruce Suraci, and Dave Collins) titled The magnitude of Yo-Yo test improvements following an aerobic training intervention are associated with total genotype score.
Craig and his colleagues helped us understand that there are differences in how well people respond to aerobic training based on our unique genetic makeup. The next step would be to figure out how we might enhance the fitness of those expected to see the smallest improvements, helping them to get as fit as possible.