“If I had known then what I know now, I would have trained in a completely different way in my youth”

Experiences

During my youth, I trained in judo with clear goals, but I had no awareness of my genetic potential. The strength and fitness tests I did only reflected my condition at that moment — training programs weren’t tailored to my individual characteristics. I struggled to build muscle as a growing boy, and my training was based on the mistaken belief that strength wouldn’t develop. Recovery was also treated as secondary.

A genetic test later revealed that my explosive strength potential had been ideally high, but my muscles needed more recovery time than average before the next workout. The results also explained why I was seen as picky at the dinner table: due to my genes, I tasted vegetables as bitter and reacted unusually strongly to their smell.

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