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Main Question: How much of a role does genetics play in muscle-building and what are some objective ways to tell one's genetic potential?

Context: Asking because unfortunately I grew up in one of the poorest parts of South Asia, born to parents with a combined average height of 4"11, eating only plants and vegetables (because of religious reasons), and growing up to be a monster 5"3 at 48kg at age 20. I recently moved to the Western world, where after 1 year of training and gaining 10kgs, I still look like a malnourished dwarf beggar.

I am following a workout program, eating a caloric surplus, and seeing some results. However as much as I'd like to believe I get can "strong", I'm aware that some things are out of reach for some people, and I'd like to have realistic expectations.

My understanding is that wrist and ankle size are the primary determinants (If so, I am truly f***ed). I'm curious if anyone here has a deeper understanding of what genetic traits can be used to measure muscle gaining potential, and how much of a role does it actually play. Thanks

Dave Newton
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    Does this answer your question? What is the genetic potential for muscular development? – Luciano Sep 27 '21 at 13:28
  • also have you checked https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/14699/how-big-of-a-role-do-genes-play-in-strength-fitness-potential ? – Luciano Sep 27 '21 at 13:30
  • Define "strong". – Dave Newton Sep 27 '21 at 16:37
  • I think the question linked in the duplicate adequately answers your question. If you still have a question that is not covered, you could ask that as another question to that specific point. From what I remember, I think ankle and wrist circumference were used to determine frame size and thus drug-free muscular potential. I'd give this a read for more in addition to the linked question. I went through that link once to find my own theoretical potential. – C. Lange Sep 28 '21 at 20:14
  • As an aside, I also want to point out that small wrists are not necessarily bad. In bodybuilding, everything is about aesthetics. Smaller wrists can actually play a role in making your forearms/upper arm look even larger. Like-wise, similarly-sized quads leading into smaller ankles vs thicker ankles will look larger etc. But yeah, plenty of shorter individuals that are strong and ripped. Flex Lewis is like 5'5" I thought. Gavin Adin literally just won 93kg Junior IPF Worlds and he's not that tall either. Gotta put in the time! – C. Lange Sep 28 '21 at 20:45
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    I think for this specific question, it needs to be noted that the research on the connection between ankle and wrist circumference and attainable muscle mass was done in fairly small samples of professional bodybuilders. It's likely then that none of the subjects experienced childhood malnourishment, and so the results of this research could not reliably be extrapolated to people who did experience childhood malnourishment. So it is quite possible that for you specifically, wrist and ankle size are not reliable determinants of attainable muscle mass. – David Scarlett Oct 03 '21 at 12:38

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