Strangest, Most bizarre thing I've heard to date...

[FincaChick]

I've had a few people say that I had an advantage to building muscle because I was black. I told them that I didn't believe that because it sounded like garbage. It has much more to do with a persons workouts, diet and probably genetics. Every body is a tool- just depends on how you work it to get results. I was wondering what everyone else thought though. I've heard this from people of different races. Is it just a stereotype or does it actually have any validity to it?

 

[Jayhawkk]

Different races do have atributes that vary. Exceptions to every rule but you can pull regions of the world and see how the people vary in all shapes and sizes. Basic genetics play a big role in how big, fast and strong you can be.

 

[Troymm]

I've had a few people say that I had an advantage to building muscle because I was black. I told them that I didn't believe that because it sounded like garbage. It has much more to do with a persons workouts, diet and probably genetics. Every body is a tool- just depends on how you work it to get results. I was wondering what everyone else thought though. I've heard this from people of different races. Is it just a stereotype or does it actually have any validity to it?

i've heard this plenty of times. some people believe that blacks have an advantage athletically. BTW you mentioned genetics, you being black is a part of your genetics

i dont really think much into the theory though...

However i think there may be some truth to the theory...here is my "dummy" assumption. Majority of american blacks are descendant of african slaves. I would assume when slaves were being collected in africa the stronger people were more likely to get drafted, on slave ships the stronger probably survived and the weaker probably died. Also, when slaves were living an procreating in this country i would assume the weaker blacks were more likely to get sick and die. I would guess that the stronger males and females were more likely to have children. Now many many many years later these "stonger" genetics are still around in this country.

but i dunno who knows....someone also told me black men on average have high testosterone levels

 

[Frank Reynolds]

This is the most bizarre thing you heard? LOL You must live a sheltered life..

I am a believer in this, to a certain extent, for sure.

 

[Rugger]

Smeton in bound........

 

[FincaChick]

This is the most bizarre thing you heard? LOL You must live a sheltered life..

I am a believer in this, to a certain extent, for sure.

LOL. I meant in the past two days regarding working out and people offering me an opinion on why I train so hard when I never asked for it in the first place... You know those types.

 

[NattyT]

Yes It is true that slave owners would mate the the stonger more athletic slavesto produce stronger children. Slave trading was a buisness and its no diffrent then dog breeding. Any one who trains dogs or breeds knows this. This is one of the issues people have with stem research and clonning. The Goverment knows about this stuff, they have there super soldiers and spys as well. Its all kept in the family. This is not just limited to physical traits either, it can be negative as well. Such as drug and drinking problems to a host of other things.

 

[warnerve]

Smeton in bound........

LOL

 

[Zero V]

A few ancient societies(though white in the cases im thinking of) kinda did things like this. The movie 300, there is some partial truth behind it. There were civilizations who would kill any weak in their society, or put people through trials that if they werent alpha material would die during them, or be banished for failure. It created a powerful race.

So the selective "breeding"(that sounds disgusting to say about a human...) idea of the slaves makes alot of sense.

I personally believe every race has attributes. I am in no way racist. But each race has its own advantages and disadvantages across its "average" line. But every race has every aspect covered to, its just the "line of averageness" i believe that can be noticed. Such as easier to build muscles for african americans.

 

[kwyckemynd00]

Black? No. "West African", may hold some water. All of the fastest sprinters in the world are west African in descent and there are definitely some correlations between sprinting and bodybuilding as far as muscle development goes. But, as far as simply "black" is concerned there is definitely zero truth to that. When is the last time you saw a buff ethiopian? :laugh:

However,the same can be said with whites. Look at eastern Europeans, Russians, etc. and compare them with the Spaniards and the French. They're typical build is much different and you'd be surprised to find out how many of the worlds top wrestlers and power lifters are of those heritages.

Now, having said all of that individual genetic variation is huge and is much bigger than inter-racial variation pretty much across the board so when it comes down to it nothing is because you are race ______, it is because you got those genes from somewhere (some races just might have those genes in higher frequency).

 

[HardTrainer]

individual genetic variation is huge and is much bigger than inter-racial variation pretty much across the board so when it comes down to it nothing is because you are race ______, it is because you got those genes from somewhere (some races just might have those genes in higher frequency).

Exactly. Statistically, black guys may well have a higher average testosterone level. But it's a mistake to think that every single black guy has more testosterone than every single white guy.

 

[Dadof2]

Training success has to do with a lot of factors, but discipline is by far the most important.

Genetics allow for certain advantages/disadvantages for sure. I happen to have long arms, and this gives me a disadvantage on movements like bench compared to someone with a more limited range of motion. Conversely my long arms give me an advantage over that same person when it comes to a movement like deadlifts. That being said, if I work harder and eat better than the guy with shorter arms at bench, I will catch up to and defeat his weight. Discipline

Now when two people with a good work ethic eat and train with the same dedication, genetics will determine who is better built and stronger, but this is certainly nothing to obsess over.

Sounds to me that some folks in your gym are just making excuses for themselves.

 

[Stangtuner]

The metabolism of the average West-African descentdant is much faster than that of an American. It's all genetics. West-Africans also have larger nostrils and 15% larger lungs as well as a higher amount of free test and lower levels of mystatin than the average american. I do believe there is an advantage but it is not by a large margin.

I did read about a study that proved this. I'm trying to find it now.

 

[Stangtuner]

http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/JT_NaturalSelections.htm


Some reading about African americans and athletics.

 

[dpfisher]

There actually was a study a while back that said the average black male had 10lbs more muscle than the average white male. I don't believe it said anything about females.

 

[EasyEJL]

Not precisely relatd, but one of my wife's friends gave birth to a child with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). Its where part of the diaphragm is open and the other organs move into the space where the lungs would develop. Anyhow, the related piece is what the doctors at the neonatal intensive care unit said. Slightly paraphrased he said "Be thankful its a girl. Whenever we have a birth from another hospital being flown in, the first questions are sex and race. In order of likelyhood to survive intense neonatal issues its black females, hispanic females, white females, black males, hispanic males, white males."

 

[Irish Cannon]

You mentioned "genetics" having to do with it...

Bingo.

As mentioned before, West Africans are known for their strength and size, East Africans are known for their quickness, speed, and athletic performance in long duration runs.

Sprinters are usually West African, distance runners are East African. - This means that most of the good bodybuilding genetics will be West African.

You have more of an East African, lean and solid look. West Africans are usually very massy and shorter.

 

[jay21]

in my college bio class we were talkin about this,,,,,, BLACK ppl have more type 2 muscle fibers then white ppl

 

[jay21]

and u guys r also nitrix oxide deficined... at a older age

 

[DT5]

I've had a few people say that I had an advantage to building muscle because I was black. I told them that I didn't believe that because it sounded like garbage. It has much more to do with a persons workouts, diet and probably genetics. Every body is a tool- just depends on how you work it to get results. I was wondering what everyone else thought though. I've heard this from people of different races. Is it just a stereotype or does it actually have any validity to it?

not PROBABLY genetics...its ALL about Genetics. you basically answered your own question. some blacks do have very superior genetics, as do some whites, but it seems more common in blacks. diet and training will only get you so far...you should know that judging by it looks like u take working out very seriously. genetics holds the key to if your going to look like you want to, or not.

 

[Pleonastic]

I woulndt buy into it much at all. Many of the strongest powerlifter strongman etc in the world are white.

Also it seems the Chinese really dominate weight lifting in olympics.

 

[hitsquaddd]

Hmm, I sort of believe that statement to an extent. But I pretty much agree with kwycke. For me (I'm Korean/Japanese), I've always had the genetics to do explosive movements (fast twitch fibers), and I'm pretty pleased with my body, mass wise (5'9-10, 190ish). But I mean, you don't see much asians that are too athletic or strong (not to sound cocky). Though, I've heard that blacks have more slow twitch muscle fibers, which may or may not be true. Either way, the bottom line is genetics is the key (obviously), and it could very well be correlated to your ethnicity... but there are exceptions of course.

 

[Warriorz]

Smeton in bound........

Wait, is that the guy who a while back felt the need to tell the story about how he became "superman" due to a certain little event as a child.

hahahahaha I don't mean to be mean, but that made up @$$ story was HILARIOUS!

 

[dynomite]

i think this is obvious that your genetics would play a role in your body. Just like asians are smaller. Eastern europeans are taller. and so on

 

[Pleonastic]

Hmm, I sort of believe that statement to an extent. But I pretty much agree with kwycke. For me (I'm Korean/Japanese), I've always had the genetics to do explosive movements (fast twitch fibers), and I'm pretty pleased with my body, mass wise (5'9-10, 190ish). But I mean, you don't see much asians that are too athletic or strong (not to sound cocky). Though, I've heard that blacks have more slow twitch muscle fibers, which may or may not be true. Either way, the bottom line is genetics is the key (obviously), and it could very well be correlated to your ethnicity... but there are exceptions of course.

Im telling you asian's in particular Chinese crushed in weightlifting at the olympics. I watched and the guys were strong as hell.

 

[jumpcannon]

eskimo's are the best at ice fishing sports. anybody wanna disagree with that? huh?

 

[JDK5386]

I've had a few people say that I had an advantage to building muscle because I was black. I told them that I didn't believe that because it sounded like garbage. It has much more to do with a persons workouts, diet and probably genetics. Every body is a tool- just depends on how you work it to get results. I was wondering what everyone else thought though. I've heard this from people of different races. Is it just a stereotype or does it actually have any validity to it?

Slaves were bred for size, muscle, and durability. This probably skews the overall distribution of atheletcism of blacks slightly, which says something about the race as a whole but not about the individual.

Individually, it means nothing. You're muscular because you work hard. Yes, your genetics might have given you an advantage, but many white, asian and latino have individual genetic advantages as well.

 

[MassBuilda123]

i've heard this plenty of times. some people believe that blacks have an advantage athletically. BTW you mentioned genetics, you being black is a part of your genetics

i dont really think much into the theory though...

However i think there may be some truth to the theory...here is my "dummy" assumption. Majority of american blacks are descendant of african slaves. I would assume when slaves were being collected in africa the stronger people were more likely to get drafted, on slave ships the stronger probably survived and the weaker probably died. Also, when slaves were living an procreating in this country i would assume the weaker blacks were more likely to get sick and die. I would guess that the stronger males and females were more likely to have children. Now many many many years later these "stonger" genetics are still around in this country.

but i dunno who knows....someone also told me black men on average have high testosterone levels

my father's co worker was fired for telling his theory at work last year. the associate was caucasion but i dont think anyone should hold that against him because he was only sharing his opinion. but he had said that during slavery, the white man put hormonals/steroids i guess in the foods when dinner time came and it built up the people of african american descent.. so that's why our generation sees so many africans to be athletic/strong because they were feed hormonals during slavery that way they would be able to work longer and last through the pain they dealt with. the steroid gene is what did it heh the guy got fired for talking out his ass.. and i cracked up when my father told me that story. im on african descent but is that not the strangest thing you guys have heard???

 

[Pleonastic]

my father's co worker was fired for telling his theory at work last year. the associate was caucasion but i dont think anyone should hold that against him because he was only sharing his opinion. but he had said that during slavery, the white man put hormonals/steroids i guess in the foods when dinner time came and it built up the people of african american descent.. so that's why our generation sees so many africans to be athletic/strong because they were feed hormonals during slavery that way they would be able to work longer and last through the pain they dealt with. the steroid gene is what did it heh the guy got fired for talking out his ass.. and i cracked up when my father told me that story. im on african descent but is that not the strangest thing you guys have heard???

If they fed them steriods it would have no effect on the people of today. However the breeding and keeping only the strong could technically mean stronger blacks today. But Im still not buying it.

 

[BoyFromAus]

Black? No. "West African", may hold some water. All of the fastest sprinters in the world are west African in descent and there are definitely some correlations between sprinting and bodybuilding as far as muscle development goes. But, as far as simply "black" is concerned there is definitely zero truth to that. When is the last time you saw a buff ethiopian? :laugh:

However,the same can be said with whites. Look at eastern Europeans, Russians, etc. and compare them with the Spaniards and the French. They're typical build is much different and you'd be surprised to find out how many of the worlds top wrestlers and power lifters are of those heritages.

Now, having said all of that individual genetic variation is huge and is much bigger than inter-racial variation pretty much across the board so when it comes down to it nothing is because you are race ______, it is because you got those genes from somewhere (some races just might have those genes in higher frequency).

Spot on.

To say "you can build muscle because you're black" would imply Somalians, Ethiopians, West Africans etc. are of the same genetics. This is far from the truth.

Through observation in fact, you'd notice that several African groups are ectomorphs while a minority are endomorphs. But according to American slave history, slaves were particularly from select tribes in West Africa. I'd say they were mesomorphs.

And like kwy pointed out, Spaniards are white as are French and the Irish. But if you're to compare these people with certain groups in Scandinavia and Montenegro, there's a huge difference in the genetics.

And the other thing is, a lot of genetics is based on extrinsic changes. e.g If a person really buffed up through gym, diet and supplements, it's more likely that the children will inherit these changes in the genome. But that's a theory.

 

[BodyWizard]

my father's co worker was fired for telling his theory at work last year. the associate was caucasion but i dont think anyone should hold that against him because he was only sharing his opinion. but he had said that during slavery, the white man put hormonals/steroids i guess in the foods when dinner time came and it built up the people of african american descent.. so that's why our generation sees so many africans to be athletic/strong because they were feed hormonals during slavery that way they would be able to work longer and last through the pain they dealt with. the steroid gene is what did it heh the guy got fired for talking out his ass.. and i cracked up when my father told me that story. im on african descent but is that not the strangest thing you guys have heard???

Hundreds of years before steroids - even hormones - were known or even suspected?

Sorry: just didn't happen. Complete BS, and you pegged it: talking out of his ass got him pegged as 'too dumb to employ'....

 

[Pleonastic]

Hundreds of years before steroids - even hormones - were known or even suspected?

Sorry: just didn't happen. Complete BS, and you pegged it: talking out of his ass got him pegged as 'too dumb to employ'....

Hahahahahahaha

 

[EasyEJL]

my father's co worker was fired for telling his theory at work last year. the associate was caucasion but i dont think anyone should hold that against him because he was only sharing his opinion. but he had said that during slavery, the white man put hormonals/steroids i guess in the foods when dinner time came and it built up the people of african american descent.. so that's why our generation sees so many africans to be athletic/strong because they were feed hormonals during slavery that way they would be able to work longer and last through the pain they dealt with. the steroid gene is what did it heh the guy got fired for talking out his ass.. and i cracked up when my father told me that story. im on african descent but is that not the strangest thing you guys have heard???

They fired him because he was obviously retarded, testosterone wasn't even able to be created in a lab until well after the civil war.

 

[TheLastRonin]

I don't buy the theory. A lot has to do with where you are raised. Sports is a way out for a lot of black people and they take their opportunity. They still train hard. Black people also look better than white people though in general, muscle definition wise, because the dark skin shows off muscle better,hence BB's using fake tan...which does not look as sweet lol. I'm white and my two best friends when I was growing up were black roughly the same size/weight as I was. I pwned them in track and lifting weights all through school. My one buddys older bro was amazing though..fast, strong and big...but it came with sacrifice.His life was training.He worked HARD for what he had.Genetics will get you far but drive will take you wherever you want to go.

 

[FOOFAC]

eskimo's are the best at ice fishing sports. anybody wanna disagree with that? huh?

I disagree! It wasn't that long ago they could only ice fish for a few weeks at the beginning of winter. Try chopping a hole through 12+ ft of ice with a rock.:laugh: Gas powered ice augers weren't to plentiful years ago.

 

[Lacradocious]

I've had a few people say that I had an advantage to building muscle because I was black. I told them that I didn't believe that because it sounded like garbage. It has much more to do with a persons workouts, diet and probably genetics. Every body is a tool- just depends on how you work it to get results. I was wondering what everyone else thought though. I've heard this from people of different races. Is it just a stereotype or does it actually have any validity to it?

I would have been offended if someone suggested the product of all my hard work was due simply to genetics. Genetics play an important role, but nothing trumps hard work and knowledge.

 

[MassBuilda123]

If they fed them steriods it would have no effect on the people of today. However the breeding and keeping only the strong could technically mean stronger blacks today. But Im still not buying it.

i thought it was the stupidest thing ive heard from my fathers co worker. my father never liked him and i never understood why up until he told me that.