Change Your DNA To Build More Muscle?
Mike and I have been searching the internet exhaustively in order to discover and share more more gems of wisdom spewed by the man they called “The Iron Guru”.
Many of the ideas that Vince presented with fervent conviction were dismissed by and even laughed at by many of the athletes and “professionals” at the time. He would say crazy things like “saturated fats are not the cause of heart disease” *gasp!* — which would later on be given serious consideration by the shepherding hand of mass media.
Amongst the strange, yet effective things that The Iron Guru taught, was that an athlete could “transmute” his DNA thus altering his potential for building muscle.
The following is an excerpt from an out-of-print document about Vince Gironda that Mike and I are really interested in learning more about.
Biological Transmutation Of The D.N.A.
“For those who don’t know, Transmutation is the changing of a thing into
another more concentrated potent thing. D.N.A. is the master blue print in every cell of
the body. R.N.A. is the message unit or messenger that conveys the information to each
body part or junction. The process of transmitting information from D.N.A. to utilization
of nutrients and in turn muscle tissue repair, addition or growth, is a formula used by all
champions. Whether they know what they are doing or not.In a lot of Vince’s writings you will find that he maintained the position that a
champion gets into shape by thinking himself into shape. He claimed that champions
were champions not because of the system they use, but rather, because they were
champions. This means they are able to transmutate the information for the cell, D.N.A.
to the desired process of intensification. Those who employ this transmutation, you will
notice, are above all things stubborn, aggressive, and possess channel vision and last but
not least, faith.”
All scientific scrutiny aside, it sounds to me like Vince is maintaining that the potential of a given athlete is not simply locked up inside the blueprint of his DNA (in fact, that blueprint can be altered) OR even in the type of training program they use! (and boy, are there a sh*t-ton claiming to be the magic bullet!)
The Iron Guru’s position is clear! – Champions THINK like champions… and that’s why they are champions!
And how do champions think? “above all things stubborn, aggressive and possess channel vision and last but not least, faith!”
New discoveries in brain science and quantum physics may point to some validity regarding Vince’s statement on the transmuation of DNA… but that’s really not the point! The point is that his statement gives hope to many of us who are led to believe that building muscle (or anything you desire for that matter) is somehow linked to our genetic destiny.
You’re ability to build muscle is as linked to the expression of your DNA, as much as you becoming an alcoholic because your father and grandfather were both drinkers! Both ideals are simply a relinquishment of responsibility for the results in one’s life.
MY QUESTION FOR YOU:
Have you ever done the “impossible”?
Have you ever defied so called “reality” in order to achieve a greater vision for yourself?
Perhaps you won a game that others expected you to lose…
Maybe you’ve become a successful businessman, despite your stuttering problem…
Are you dating a woman that is waaay hotter than your buddy’s girl… even though you’re not the typical “ladies man”?
Or are you lean, strong and jacked… despite your genetics?
Strength Training
September 8, 2010
11:48 am
Nothing like “The Power of Positive Thought”.
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September 8, 2010
2:14 pm
life and death are in the power of the tongue…… We have what we speak and believe… Faith is the key …. Do you have the faith that you will fail or succeed? Kudos on bringing this out gents… i will try to see if i can dig up a list of this gentleman’s books.
Forget the lion…. BE THE RHINO
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September 8, 2010
2:16 pm
Agree, well put.
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September 8, 2010
2:22 pm
Hey guys, I am reposting my question from your previous post (Vince – part 1) because I am hoping you answer it (maybe you missed it because it was way down the page):
“In regards to the diet, I find with myself eating 5 times a day does not work for me energy wise and is not practical with my schedule, so I have adopted the Warrior Diet as a way of eating. Does the Warrior Diet conflict with Vince’s nutritional views? Also, I thought you guys (Mike and Elliot) where somewhat against isolation exercises, saying they are a waste of time as compared to the big three (or four); squats, deadlifts, and benching, (and military presses). I thought your view was that “bodybuilders” where all show and no go and that there way of training was inferior? What is the deal? Isn’t this why you came up with LHM?” I look forward to your answer.
Thanks again for the post
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leanhybr Reply:
September 8th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Hey Michael, we dont’ agree with everything Vince G says, but he is certainly worth listening to and taking some of his advice to heart.
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Michael M Reply:
September 13th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Thanks, I guess??? Not really much of an answer/reply. Vince G views (in many cases) are polar opposite of what I read in LHM. In fact I would bet Vince G had little to no “hybrid muscle” (all show and no go as I have heard you say). All these posts really did was add another layer of confusion to an already confusing issue(s).
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September 8, 2010
3:56 pm
While I’m all for improving the mental picture of what we are, do we really change the genetics? Was the genetic POTENTIAL there all the time, but just lacked the proper stimulus for the full expression?
We are in a constant state of flux and improvements can be made in all of us – that doesn’t mean we are changing the genetic material itself. Most likely we are changing only what we really believe. and that in itself is a very powerful thing.
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September 8, 2010
5:09 pm
I´m sharing this with my training tribe, Elliott, thanks!
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September 8, 2010
6:20 pm
Don’t misunderstand Mr. Gironda. This is not about altering your DNA. In his days, much less was known about molecular genetics anyway. I think what he meant to say was exactly what he said, you become a champion if you are one. How this is achieved is open to speculation.
Here some thoughts:
This world is all about rules, and you come to appreciate this fact if you’ve ever made a parachute jump or flown solo, single-engine, over a long stretch of water. “The engine does not know what is underneath.”
One should not see the rules as a cage. In a game of chess, you could always win if you set new rules. For some reason, nobody does it. It is good if the real world is based on rules. Alas, we do not understand them all.
The good news is: no rules are violated when DNA is changed. We do not violate any known physical law. It’s just not easy to do and our technology is not there yet – but it will be, probably before 2100.
On the other hand, it is not necessary to dream a grand dream of transmutation.
With what we have now and here, consider this:
There are a lot of factors influencing muscle shape and growth (By the way, even Mr. G. did not think it possible to change DNA-given calf shape by much (or biceps, for that matter)). The more factors influence the shape and size of your muscles, the less likely it is that they are ALL stacked up against you. It is very unlikely that you inherited, let’s say, all 20 crap genes. Maybe you have bad luck and 10 are against you. That leaves another 10 you can work with.
Now, it is all about finding out what these 10 reasonably good genes are. They will be different from the gene sets of your buddies. What helps them will not help you.
It is not about altering your DNA, but utilising what you’ve got. However, if you are successful, it will look to others as if you’ve changed your DNA indeed. What you have done instead is won a game in spite of a bad hand of cards.
A good player can do that.
The champion (good player) will try out what works for him and take it from there, with “stubbornness, aggressiveness, channel vision & faith”. These are all traits of character.
Which leaves us with the key question: can we change our character? Could our character become that of a champion?
This is a difficult one. Oftentimes, it will be easier to break all the laws of nature than to change a man’s character, that much I can tell you!
Yet another question is what you want to achieve. Is it a good idea to dream of looking like the incredible hulk? Is a dream of championship and fame a good one? What about lean and muscular? Would that not be good enough to make you happy? I do not want to elaborate further. It is time for my cardio session.
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leanhybr Reply:
September 9th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
“It is not about altering your DNA, but utilising what you’ve got.”
Very well stated Peter… thanks for participating!
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September 8, 2010
8:36 pm
One thing I get out of this statement of Vince’s for sure is this: Positive thinking acccompanied by positive actions can move your forward. Negative thinking and sitting around hoping for change but taking no steps to attempt to change anything can keep you in the same ole rut.
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September 8, 2010
8:41 pm
that stuff about “changing your DNA” is really interesting. Mark Sisson wrote a bunch of really high-quality blogs over at his site about epigenetics and how significant an effect what you eat and how much you exercise has on your DNA, and it clearly shows that DNA is not some immutable substance that you are completely stuck with for life. looks like Vince Gironda was definitely way ahead of his time
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September 8, 2010
11:38 pm
nice…i got biology 12 and we’re gonna do DNA too and all that stuff about it..im gonna ask about transmutation and learn more of the science behind training for sports
thankls
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September 9, 2010
3:32 pm
dr kareem samouri,has a dvd on positive thinking dna changing i dont know ?Many sports people use visualization to help them attain there goals they see there themselves doing what they should be doing long befor the event arises..It HAS HAPPENND TO ME once at least i would regularly race a mx track in the uk and this was a gp track way to tough for my meagre ability but low and behold after getting to the start gate over 20mins early and sitting there visualising the start the first bend etc i found myself at one stage leading the race i didnt win i somehow snapped out of the dream state i was in but for the me i was doing well, all i can say is i was actually thinking about what and how i was going to do it was like i was watching the race unfold in front of my very eyes i was one with my bike until it all went pearshaped but i beleive its possible to achieve results with the power of the mind good blog i like hearing about mr gironda his words carry weight even today
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leanhybr Reply:
September 9th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Dr. K is the man!
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September 11, 2010
10:22 pm
I LIVE to change my DNA. Yes, I have many examples. A lot of people think that because I’m a girl, I don’t have the DNA to be able to do more than one pull up and that having two fingers would completely prevent this. I use my wrist when i do pull ups so there. I also type 60 words a minute despite people’s incredulous looks when they see me type with only two fingers on my left hand. People like to say that since I was a fat baby, that I don’t have the body type to be athletic. They should look at me now. When I was in high school, a boy told me that if you can’t do the splits now, you never will. I felt the need to prove him wrong and stretched every day until i succeeded in doing the splits. Truth is, our DNA is wired to help us adapt to ANYTHING and it is our job to push the power of this adaptive mechanism to see what we are truly capable of. People told me that because I sprained my back I could never do back bends or dead lifts again. Back bends and heavy dead-lifting is what HEALED my back. People told me that because I hurt my back and knee I could never run again. I run faster now than ever. GREAT BLOG
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September 12, 2010
1:49 am
One should follow Mike`s advice about the muscle training he may develop his muscle as hybrid muscle. How is it? By thinking like champion himself and only it is coming by thinking itself but also to follow what he want to say and try to understand the whole things even he told about the change of DNA TOO. First to start from the initial stage then only we should attain the main successive stage as Mike`s references cleared in this concept. Well Mike Westerdal and keep it up for well done of every one.
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October 10, 2010
6:15 pm
Great post on the mental side of things. It’s definitely THE KEY between champions and those who come in second!
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October 22, 2010
11:44 am
I too am a big supporter in Vince’s beliefs that proper training can overcome and alter someone despite their genetics and DNA! Great post guys!!
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