Are 'Best Muscle Groups' Genetic or Trained?

[CarneGranada]

Dr. Mike definitely feels a mind-muscle connection when he blinks.

[MrOpticBlade]

This is why genetics are such an imporant factor in bodybuilding.

You reading this probably have a best body part that responds very well and doesn’t take much effort to grow.

Now imagine somebody else has that same (perhaps even greater) response on all of their muscle groups.

Life ain’t fair and the gummy bears don’t get spread aroun equally. That’s why it’s important to not compare yourself with others too much.

[AsocPaladin]

That’s my calves for me. My family has genetically larger calves all around but I have surpassed anyone else by a large margin. My family jokes that I have cows now.

[recless]

Another reason is that muscle group may be used often for daily tasks. My triceps and back are surprisingly strong, given how weak everything else is. Why? I've pulled telecom cables at work for over a decade. Literal standing rows for 8 hours a day. Cable pull downs for 8 hours a day.

I curl 25 lbs and my seated row is 155 lbs. My whole goal in the gym is to balance my body the fuck out so I look like a normal jackass instead.

[terigiese]

The first time I picked up a dumbbell at age 16?I was absolutely hooked.It has been the ONLY way that I could ever gain weight.This 63 year old body has been through over 25 surgeries and countless death predictions?And after 10 solid years of sickness and being bedridden?I was able to come back and now stronger, better, medication free, and planning on hitting the gym for at LEAST another 30 years!

[samk]

Another one is what you did growing up. There's a lot of evidence that there are permanent hypertrophy size and strength differences in the throwing arms of baseball players who played since they were little or archers who did heavy bow draws a lot. So sometimes people are gifted at things because they've always done them from a super young age

[tsp]

I will add that certain non-weighted activities from a young age can actually bias the development and recruitment of certain muscles by the time one reaches adulthood and starts training with weights.

Myself as an example: growing up I did a lot of taekwondo which involved a lot of unloaded hamstring stretching drills. The result appears to be that my hamstrings grow quite well whenever I train them with weights (both with hip hinge and knee flexion movements) relative to the rest of my body. I also seem to almost never fail deadift lockouts due to weak hamstrings but rather due to weak glutes/ upper back

[KalkuehlGym]

My "best" muscle group actually changed over the years.
When I was 20, my best muscle group was chest.
I trained for 2 years intensely and paused for 8.
Now I restarted for 2.5 years and my chest is my biggest weakness.
My neck is now my strongest muscle.

[Slopses]

I just wanted big legs. Now I got a massive dumpy

[jeanpitre]

Thanks Dr Mike! Really cool head shape! 💪

[TheKillbox]

I came up with an interesting theory around this the other week.. climbers use something called an "ape index" referring to the ratio between limb length and height. I have a positive index, my arm span is much taller than my height.. the muscles in my arms insert further down the bone than friends with shorter armspans.. theoretical creating more leverage. Funnily enough my back is by far my dominant muscle group..

In saying that I believe genetics play a huge part in naturally dominant muscle groups

[XanderYTV]

I have been lifting for around 1.25 years. My back looks like i have been lifting for 4 years. My arms look like ive never been to the gym.

[xTheNameisEthan]

I think it's triceps for me, even before I lifted at all 8 had prominent triceps and now I love training them and they are definitely my best looking muscle

[gromswowguide]

Yep, people tell me my traps are insane, yet i never train them directly, not even deadlifts, my shoulders are also very decent, but i’ve trained my legs for 6 years rather persistently, and they are still no bigger than some dudes legs who haven’t even lifted, i mean shit..

[donventura]

An interesting anecdote about environmental factors. Had a job where I used my left (it is my non-dominant side) tricep everyday for about 2 - 3 hours everyday. It wasn't super tough, but I was using like 70% of my full strength for 10+ hours every week. After a year my left long head tricep is vastly more developed than my right side. It has less fat and more muscle. I've been training for years since and haven't been able to correct the imbalance in size, but I have fixed the strength imbalances. However it did cause my left pec to be slightly smaller as I think my tricep often took over on push movements and it took like a year to fully fix after I noticed. My arms were not a genetic strength, but that 1 year of labor seems to have irreversibly changed my musculature and made my left tricep one of my most dominant muscles.

[kojimich]

For me it's my legs, especially quads. For example I can do full ROM leg press 200kg for 10 reps, even though I started training 2 months ago and when I started I was 54kg 181cm twig arms. Also my quad muscles are distinct

[jackass]

I started riding my bike at 12, really gave me an output for my energy and something to do. But since I’ve been riding ever since, I’m addicted to it now . My thighs are monsters

[ivettesantana]

He is correct. All the stuff he teaches, I learned on my own because there was no internet back then and I had no time to read on 3 hours of sleep. Some people have a closer connection with their body rather than the external.

[andyburris]

Back and shoulders for me. But I have to admit my dad had a all in one machine back in the day that I would use a few times a week for fun that had really good feeling movements built in.

[vercingetorix]

I am extremely limb dominant. My entirely lifting career has been me essentially just training back, arms and shoulders. If treat legs or arms as more than an after thought, I start looking real goofy.