Genetics of sports and fitness

Physical fitness is a complex phenotype influenced by a myriad of environmental and genetic factors, and variation in human physical performance and athletic ability has long been recognized as having a strong heritable component. Recently the development of technology in the field of sports for rapid DNA Sequencing and genotyping has allowed the identification of some of the Individuals genetic variations that contribute to athletic performance. This review will examine the evidence that has accumulated over the last three decades for a strong genetic influence on human sports and fitness performance, with an emphasis different trajectories to achieving elite athletic performance in sports with respect to cardio respiratory and skeletal muscle function, which are particularly important for performance in a variety of sports. We will then review recent studies that have identified gene map for performance and fitness. Finally, we will explore the scientific implications of our rapidly growing understanding of the genetic basis of variation in performance and different ways of genetic testing.