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Does your genetics make you run faster? What’s the speed gene?

Steph Green
·3 min read

Some humans can definitely ‘run like the wind,’ leaving others behind while they zoom across the finish line. It seems these fast folks are born to run as they take vast stride after stride. Could your genetics play a role in how fast you can run? Researchers have been looking at a particular gene they’re calling the ‘super speed gene,’ it turns out it could be associated with the ability to run fast. 

Factors like nutrition, how much you slept, and muscle strength and size are all involved when it comes to your running speed, and this research highlights that your genetics is another factor to consider. Let’s look at the speed gene and the research.

The role of genetics

legs running on track.
Olly / Pexels

Scientists have been investigating a speed gene for over two decades, and research is mounting, revealing how your genetic makeup strongly affects your athletic performance. Researchers have found over 200 different genetic variations that could affect sports performance, and 20 of those could make someone more likely to be an elite athlete.

Of course, becoming an elite athlete takes much more than genetics, and we have to credit their hard work and dedication to a consistent training schedule and optimal nutrition. Even so, according to growing studies, your genetics definitely influence your athletic performance. Certain genes could give you an edge and a ‘leg up’, so to speak.

The speed gene

It’s the same story every January; the gym is bursting with people eager to fulfill their new year’s fitness resolutions. Before that, in the months leading up to the holidays, people tend to kick back a little and slow down with their training routines. You can start that weekly run, swim, or circuit class after the new year. New year, new you is often the echoed phrase. TikTok’s viral Winter Arc challenge is switching things up and encouraging people to change the record and pick up the pace sooner. Let’s look at the Winter Arc challenge and top tips to help you get ahead with your fitness goals. The latest trending TikTok fitness challenge ‘Winter Arc’ is a 90-day challenge trending on TikTok where you use the last three months of the year to focus on health and fitness objectives and personal development, such as joining a running club, improving your nutrition, or starting a five-day workout plan. Instead of the fall being leisurely time off or a time to sink into your couch and hibernate with a warm beverage, this challenge looks at the holidays as a time to jumpstart your health and fitness goals. The only rule is that you must stay consistent and disciplined to make noticeable progress by the new year. The idea behind the Winter Arc On these often colder and shorter days of the winter season, the idea is to use this time to level up your athletic performance so you’re transformed by January instead of just starting out. The Winter Arc TikTok is full of men and women in their hoodies and seasonal workout gear running in the dark or at sunrise or pumping iron in the gym. These videos get millions of views as people motivate each other to get moving. Whether you pick up the pace in October, November, or December, it’s a good idea to invest time and energy into your fitness to see serious changes over time. Rather than slowing down and kicking back, it’s time to kick things up a notch with your workout routine. Celebrity fitness trainer Michael Baah says this concept has been around for decades and that it takes around 66 days to form a habit, so the Winter Arc helps you along that journey ahead of the new year. That being said, some people warn that you shouldn’t get too carried away by trying to hit extreme fitness objectives, which could cause added stress during the holidays. Tips to get started Top tips to get started with your Winter Arc: Be realistic and clear with your goals and write them down. Track your progress with a fitness tracker or write your progress down in your notepad. Try to improve in smaller increments, such as adding an extra 10 minutes to your workout or incorporating manageable, progressive overload with strength training. Stay hydrated. Find an accountability partner to get on board. Do what you enjoy or prefer. Research shows you’re more likely to show up when you stick to the exercise intensities you prefer.
Cotton Bro / Pexels

Scientists uncovered a speed gene, or ACTN3, that encodes for the protein alpha-actinin-3, which is a protein that’s only expressed in fast-twitch muscle fibers. Muscles are comprised of hundreds or thousands of muscle fibers bunched together and coated in connective tissue. Type II, otherwise known as fast-twitch muscle fibers, are found in higher amounts in elite power athletes like sprinters and weightlifters. Mutations in the ACTN3 gene have been strongly associated with the ability to run faster.

Interesting research

people running in Hyrox race
Hyrox / Hyrox World Instagram

Sports scientist Henry Chung and his team from the United Kingdom looked at thousands of genes in the DNA of 45 British young adults. The participants ran for 30 minutes three times a week for a total of eight weeks. They found that 19 specific genes kept coming up that were related to some sort of fitness variable. Some people improved cardiorespiratory fitness or VO2 max by 20%, some improved by 5%, and others didn’t improve at all. 

The researchers performed a genotype analysis of all runners and determined that the people who improved cardiorespiratory fitness or VO2 max by 20% had all of these 19 positive genes, whereas people who didn’t improve as much only had one or two of these genes. Fewer than 31% of people involved in the small study had this genetic makeup.

The warrior gene

shorts legs man running marathon joggin
Safari Consoler / Pexels

One of these genes was the ‘warrior gene’ or monoamine oxidase A gene MAOA, which is associated with risk-taking behavior and aggression. This gene could allow people to switch on more of a survival instinct and think, ‘I need to run’, causing them to run faster than others. With these genes, optimal sleep and nutrition, and hard work, it makes sense why some people seem superhuman in their athletic abilities.

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