For a long time, the bodybuilding community has been talking about the muscle building genetics of the black male. According to many, African roots are highly beneficial when your goal is to construct large amounts of aesthetic muscle mass.
Whenever people post a picture of a muscular man who happens to be black, the usual response is:
“He is black. He can gain muscle by playing cards and eating donuts all day.”
Is this really the case? Are black people incredibly gifted when it comes to building muscle mass?
It’s Not About Race. It’s About Personal Muscle Genetics
The black community is gifted in the field of athletics. This is backed by the fact that almost all top level running athletes are black. Track and field has always been dominated by black people, and it doesn’t look like the hegemony will end.
The fact that black people are good at fast and explosive sports such as sprinting has a direct effect on bodybuilding since both activities rely on fast twitch muscle fibers.
Fast twitch fibers have more potential for muscular growth than slow twitch fibers. This partially explains why people carrying a predominant amount of fast twitch fibers have larger musculatures.
However, there are “highs” and “lows” in every community. Some black people have good genetics for building muscle, but there are also many who don’t.
The fact that you’re black does not mean that you have superior genetics for building muscle mass by default. Muscle size depends on your personal genes and overall potential for growth rather than race.
The Slave Period
A lot of people attribute the muscle power of the black man to the slave period when blacks were forced to work day and night, and therefore, only the strongest survived.
It’s true that only healthy and strong people can endure similar torture, but it would be naive to conclude that slavery has altered the genetic pool so much.
It’s genetics. What are you going to do about it?
At the end of the day, our genes cannot be changed. We all have to work with what we have. Don’t overthink and focus on the things that you can push in a positive direction.
I think blacks are better for muscle building and whites are better for strength. Most of the powerlifters are white people. You don’t see any black domain in powerlifting and see in bodybuilding. Simples as that.
Black = size
White = strength
*facepalm*
End your bro science idiot ie mr victor
Well of course not, because black man don’t feel the need to prove their masculinity.
This is a very near-sighted comment my friend. I think culturally powerlifting has always been a Caucasian males sport in the US. Don’t forget people like Ronnie Coleman and CT Fletcher. We can’t take singular, anecdotal points of view and apply it to genetic statistics without scientific evidence. Cheers!
That’s not true because a black guy would develop muscle mass and strength at the same time.
Most black guys simply aren’t into power lifting. It’s simply something fat guys do when they are too lazy to work their entire bodies. If it became a popular thing amongst black American men, they would ultimately become the best as the do in every endeavor they/we embrace with full effort.. On another note: superior athletic abilities are not linked to all black men. Africans are nowhere as Athletic as black Americans aka authentic Israelites. Authentic Israelite are the most gifted people on the planet which is why they remain oppressed and subjected to brainwashing tactics designed to stymy their/our sense of self and reality.
That part about Africans is not true. All the best runners in the world are from East Africa, West Africa or Jamaica. Plus west Africans have an affinity for building muscle more than any other ethnicity
Such a baseless argument. I’m an African and not muscular like you think. White black or Asian we are the same.
Agree with Scott. We are all pretty much the same.
Brother i am an asian guy with 5.11 height And i am bigger than most of white and black people. I think the shape and muslcle structure is different, but we are in same that we have to put ourselves to work hard for that. I have started my work out since i was in elementary school and now im in college.Generally mosy of the kids in here(state) are bigger than kids in our country(south korea), but that does not mean we don’t get enough strength or size growth than black or white. Its about culture and how u build your muscle. Our culture do not encourage kids to do workout, and we tends to focus more on academic fulfillment. I have some friends who dedicates their lives on work out, and we would consider them as a beast regardless of anyone’s eyes
Fake news.