I was wondering how many days per week a Type 3 with ACTN RR gene should train? Also, if you could give a general template for a training day? Thanks for your time as always.
Just a recap for for who might be hearing about ACTN3 RR for the first time.
You have two variants of the ACTN3 gene (a gene that affects muscle fiber type and response to training).
ACTN3 RR show a higher ratio of fast twitch fibers, better tolerance to muscle damage, greater mTOR activation following training (so more protein synthesis/muscle growth) and a lower risk of injury.but tighter muscles
ACTN3 XX show a high ratio of slow twitch fibers, are more prone to muscle damage/soreness, recover from strength training at a slower pace, have more endurance, a higher risk of injury, more flexibility
Typically a Type 3 will have more slow twitch fibers but if a Type 3 has the ACTN3 RR gene it will give him a higher ratio of fast twitch fibers and more capacity to recover from training and building muscle.
A Type 3 with ACTN3 RR is what I used to call an “easy hardgainer”.
Physiologically they can tolerate a fair amount of volume in a session. Type 3 can do a high amount of volume in a session and the ACTN3 RR gene allows them to tolerate even more while still having positive recovery.
HOWEVER they still have the nervous system of a a type 3 meaning that they tend to be anxious and produce a lot of cortisol which can negate some of the benefits of having the right muscle composition to build a lot of muscle.
They will do better with:
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an emphasis on eccentric loading (slower eccentrics or even eccentric overloads)
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rep schemes in the lactic glycolysis zone (sets lasting 30-60 seconds). With an eccentric of 4-5 seconds (rep duration of 6-7 seconds) we are talking in the 4-8 reps range
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focus on few big basic lifts and do them frequently (2-4 times per week)… a daily undulating periodization (DUP) might be a good approach here, but still staying in the proper set duration range
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3-4 weekly sessions to be able to better control cortisol levels
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3-6 work sets per exercise (depending on reps and phase) with about an equal number of gradually heavier warm-up sets
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Can you show us an example day of training of a type 3 like this ?
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CT gave you the ingredients and the recipe. Just need to put it together.
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Haha! We type 3s LOVE to have everything spelled out!
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What about a quick snippet about if you have the xx genotype? What if you are let’s say a type 2A with the xx genotype? Would that mean doing quicker eccentrics and concentrics but not as much volume ? Or longer duration sets but less of them ? Just curious, understand if you dont answer.
Quick eccentrics are not the solution because fast eccentrics can be as damaging as slow ones if you have speed when you reach the bottom position: the turnaround point (when you switch from eccentric to concentric) is where you can create the most muscle damage if you arrive there with speed and try to switch direction rapidly.
So you wouldn’t use slow eccentrics (4-6 seconds) but you would still keep them under control (2-3 sec).
When you have the ACTN3 XX variant of the gene, your potential to build muscle and strength is lower. I’d like to sugar coat it, but that is the truth. Having that variant of the gene makes your muscles much less responsive to training.
- They have a higher ratio of slow twitch fibers which have a much lower muscle growth potential
- They have less mTOR activation from lifting (so less protein synthesis/muscle growth)
- They don’t recover as fast from intense lifting
- They are more prone to muscular injuries
- They have less potential for strength and power (less fast twitch fibers)
So here are my recommendations to make the most out of this situation:
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Include only a small volume of “muscle damage work” (fairly heavy work where the target muscle reaches a stretched position)
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Focus more on methods stimulating growth via the release of local growth factors and lactate. Here we are talking about keeping a muscle under load of 40-70 seconds per set, ideally keeping the muscle under constant tension (keep squeezing the muscle every inch of every rep, both eccentric and concentric, perform only the middle 2/3rd of the range of motion)
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You can use growth factor methods (do a site search for growth factor training)
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You can use a lot of methods that create muscle fatigue without having to use lots of weight
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Add in eccentric-less hypertrophy work (prowler pushing, rowing a sled or prowler, sled dragging backwards, etc.)
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Use leucine (10g) pre-workout ( to augment mTOR activation from the session) and glycine (5g) post-workout (also to augment the mTOR, but it has to be taken post-workout since it is a neural inhibitor)
YES you can still do some heavy lifting, but it should only be a small portion of your training.
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And we Type 2A HATE when people make us feel like the original answer was not good enough
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Would rest/pause similar to the “Best Damn” set-up be something a type 3 with ACTN RR could use effectively?
Thank you so much CT highly appreciated !