Why the study?
Athletic performance results from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, warranting a synthesis of literature on polymorphic genes linked to endurance, power, strength, injury susceptibility, and chronic metabolic diseases.
Design
Narrative review
May support genetic-informed personalization of training and prevention; leaves open prospective validation before clinical adoption.
Athletic performance results from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. This review compiles and synthesizes available literature on polymorphic genes associated with endurance, power, and strength performance, as well as their links to injury susceptibility and chronic metabolic diseases. Endurance performance is modulated by ACE, PPARGC1A, HFE, UCP2, UCP3, CDKN1A, and PPARA, regulating mitochondrial biogenesis, oxygen utilization, and muscle fiber composition. Power performance involves ACTN3, MCT1, IGF1, AMPD1, AGT, and AGTR2, affecting anaerobic metabolism, lactate clearance, and fast-twitch fiber recruitment. Strength performance is influenced by AR, PPARG, ARK2N, MMS22L, LRPPRC, PHACTR1, and MTHFR, related to androgen signaling, muscle hypertrophy, and recovery. Injury-related genes (COL1A1, COL5A1, IL6, VEGFA, NOG) and metabolic risk genes (FTO, PPARG, ADRB3) further highlight the clinical relevance of genomics. Collectively, these insights support the application of genetic information to personalize training, enhance performance, prevent injuries, and guide exercise interventions to mitigate metabolic disease risk.
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Imperatore et al. (2025) studied this question.
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