[arivers25Participant]

is athleticism genetic or just something you have to work really hard at?

 

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

combination of both…in basketball you really wanna work on your leg strength, and upper body…and obviously cardio

[Im Your FatherParticipant]

Almost no human attribute is purely genetic. Our environment and our genetics interact to form every aspect of who we are. 

[HaleParticipant]

 To an extent. Some people are more naturally gifted then others, but if you work hard enough you can usually make up the difference.

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 Mostly athleticism is dependent on fitness and conditioning more than anything else.  Just some people can put one muscle easier than others and those can put on muscle without losing flexibility or coordination.  At the professional level, these differences in genetics can be apparent, as NBA players are often in relatively similar physical condition.  

Also, some people have more efficient muscles, with more fast-twitch muscle fibers, which I gather are needed to be a top level athlete.  This helps separate the Dwight Howards of the world from the DeSagana Diops (I don’t mean this as a dig on Diop, as most people outside of the NBA who are that tall probably have significant injury and fitness issues, but Howard is at another level athletically).

I’m no doctor, but that is my take.

[ThugmanParticipant]

It’s a bit of both. Though at the very top level say the NBA most of those guys are gifted athletes and hard work and conditioning counts for more.

B-ball fan, on the fast-twitch muscle fibers they say most people of West African descent have these as opposed to slow-twitch muscle fibers. That may explain to some extent the dominance of African Americans in basketball or Jamaicans in sprints. On the other hand slow-twitch muscles are more efficient at utilizing oxygen but they are not as ‘explosive’. East Africans (eg. Kenyans and Ethiopians) have more slow-twitch muscles and that may explain their dominance in the long distance events.

[raybeasParticipant]

your vertical jump, 40yd dash, bench press, etc through repititious exercise. But, starting at a high point really helps.

[PyronParticipant]

 strong abs help you jump higher/run faster and you definitely have to work on it…especially to maintain it when your metabolism slows down when you get older

[Harbinger]

Some people are just born more athletic then others.How many of you  watch the olympics? There’s a ethnicity group that dominates most events best example track.African descendants mostly jamaicans dominate track.Japan and Russia have deep roots in Arts,Show,Dancing etc. The tradition of these things has been passed down not only through celebration and entertainment but through body also, they dominat gymnastics.Look at dogs and how Selective breeding produces major change in look and attributes.I wouldnt say people Selectively bred even tho we do picking our "mates" lol but some people are born with abilitys others aren’t.Working out Increases what you naturally have.A great  athlete doesnt have to be a pro boxer with knock out power or nba center with 3 point range, its hard work also a great athlete can be a navy seal , army sf, people who work hard to push their body to limits most do not.I’m saying its alitte of both hardwork and god given gifts.

[llperez]

unless you are like 10 years old, im pretty sure you should know the answer is both. How are people giving you points for such a question.

[JoeWolf1]

 Yes, but it can always be improved.  Muscle tone, fast and slow twitch fibers, and how you put on fat are things that you cannot improve, you can be a great athlete and have primarily slow twitch fibers ( but you’ll be best suited as an edurance athlete and not on the football feild or basketball court). Those natural traits are what keeps every guy who works out from being Lebron James.

That being said, you can always make yourself better.  The weight room, hard work, agility drills, and conditioning will make a you better athlete. And even if you’re not a great athlete doesn’t mean you can’t excell in sports.  Brian Cardinal has had a 10+ year NBA career, and it’s not because he ever had a 35” vertical leap.

What we know now in how the body works paired with hard work you can absoluetely add 5-10” on your vertical leap and build muscle mass, but natural ability does have a lot of bearing on where you will end up.  If your natural ability with no training is a 19” vertical and a 100 lb bench you’re not going to end up as good of an athlete as someone who trains just as hard and started with a 25” vertical and a 130 lb bench naturally.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

Things like running and jumping athletiscm is almost all genetic as far as I can tell. I’ve only heard of one NBA player who dramatically improved their vertical leap after making it to the NBA (Allan Houston supposedly added about 8 inches early in his career and then went on to become a super star).  

NBA great Rick Barry was a tremendous athlete and ended up having four sons play in the NBA. They were all fast enough to play pro ball and Brent as we all know won the Slam Dunk Contest.  Jumping is genetic. You can add a few inches if you go from out of shape to being a beast, but once you are basically fit and an adult, you aren’t adding many inches later in life. 

[kngojcParticipant]

 Honestly I think a lot of it is entirely dependent on genetics. If the NBA was purely based on skill, there could be more 5’6 guys out there playing. But it almost seems like a rule to have your shortest player on the team by at least 6′. Height is something you can’t change at all. You’re not going to grow to be as big as Yao Ming if your parents and their parents never even came close to 6′ tall. But that is just the height aspect. I think in terms of athleticism, you can improve a ton on your own without being so naturally gifted. We don’t see Dirk going up and doing windmills (can you imagine how funny that’d look?) and Jimmer isn’t exactly an athletic freak. The point being, they worked hard to become great and able to make it into the league. How they got there has a lot to do with genetics but your genetics don’t determine your will power or your desire to make something of yourself. That is all you.

[aamir543Participant]

You start at a certain point, which for some may be more or better, but you can always improve it with a bit of hard work, so I will say that athleticism is genetic, but any one can imrove it with hard work, so It really doesn’t matter.

[BigDParticipant]

Dirk Nowitzki is actually quite athletic, if you look back at videos from his younger days, but athletiscm is a combination of both, you can be naturally gifted of course, and with training, become unbelieveable. But anybody who works on their athletiscm can become more athletic until a certain point, known as the peak, otherwise there would be no point in people training to get stronger, more athletic, better conditioning.

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