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FH Newsletter: Episode 5

Excited to kick off another edition of FITTER HUMANS!

First and foremost, a huge thank you to each and every one of you. Your continued presence means the world, and I’m thrilled to see our FITTER HUMANS community growing week by week. It’s incredible to share this journey with all of you, united by our common goal. Rest assured, together we’re all bound to become FITTER HUMANS in no time.

Had an awesome weekend with the fam and despite losing an hour of sleep due to daylight savings.

For those just joining, I’m Daniel Guzman, and my career has been dedicated to the front lines of professional soccer for the past decade.

With over 25,482 hours spent testing and refining protocols to elevate human performance, I’m committed to pioneering advancements in the applied sports genetics realm.

Being fully transparent: if you are not prioritizing the enhancement of your physical prowess or mental sharpness, this newsletter may not align with your interests.

But if the idea of envisioning yourself a year from now, proudly proclaiming, “I am FITTER than I was last year,” strikes a chord with you, then pull up a seat and join the FH tribe.

Welcome to the FH family. I couldn’t be more delighted to have you on board.

Our First Ever FH Newsletter Sponsor 👏

So excited to share this edition of the FITTER HUMAN newsletter is sponsored by the great folks over at Betterhelp. Proud to be partnered with an awesome organization that provides accessible online therapy to millions of people across the country. Not only are we committed to having a FITTER body, but also a FITTER mind.

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FITTER Genes 🧬: Can Genetics Predict Injuries?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions I get on a weekly basis. I want to start by stating that any sports injury is multifactorial. A contact injury could occur from two people colliding, someone being pushed off balance or a piece of sports equipment hitting a person. Additionally, a non-contact injury can take in to account the preparation of training stress leading up to the injury. Over-training or under-training for your competition can increase the likelihood of an injury.

However, in any instance, genetics play a massive role in injuries. A 2018 article by McCabe and Collins, looked at 289 soccer players and these 4 genes (GDF5, AMPD1, COL5A1, IGF2). The purpose of the paper was to look at genes associated with ankle and knee injuries at various levels of soccer and the effect of games missed due to injury. If you read the paper, you will find that the:

• TT genotype of GDF5 had an increase in ankle and knee injuries

• CC genotype of AMPD1 had fewer ankle, knee and total injuries

• TT genotype of COL5A1 had an increase in total injuries

• GG genotype of IGF2 had an increase in total injuries

So where do we go from here?

It is vitally important to understand that even if you have one of the genes above, it does NOT mean you are destined for a sport injury. It does mean you now have a blueprint to show you where to focus your time. It is understanding where your low hanging fruit is, which are the areas of focus that give you your biggest bang for your buck. IT IS SAVING YOU TIME! Which will always be the most valuable and precious resource for people.

If an athlete has the TT genotype of the GDF5 gene what would you do? You might include exercises that strengthen the muscles and tendons surrounding the ankle and knee. You might supplement their diet with foods that target the rebuilding of those structures and support recovery specific to their genetic makeup. While injury prediction will always be a hot topic in sports, it is quite clear that understanding an athlete’s genetics is not only valuable, but mandatory as a foundational screening assessment.

Keep reading for a real-world example with one of my athletes:

I worked with a professional soccer player who had one of these “injury” genes. (HINT: most of us have these genes, they are not uncommon). We used their genetics as the first level of evaluation to develop the most accurate program for them. Since we knew they had a gene that is associated with ankle and knee injuries, we then began to look at their previous injury history. In the previous 3 years they had no major ligament injuries and had a few leg injuries (hamstring, calf).

Then we began a testing protocol to determine current athletic status: force plate countermovement jump, VO2 Submax and total body movement screen by the team Physical Therapist. We found the athlete had a great fitness base with a predicted 62 VO2 max (we would further evaluate “fitness” in live-training with the team). They had below average impulse (force x time) from the force plate analysis and less than ideal mobility in their hip and ankle mobility.

The Plan..in 30 seconds or less

The plan was to improve stability and mobility, through strength training, by progressively overloading a hinge and lunge pattern. Additional strength planning would focus around hamstring strength for their positional demands. Further power would be enhanced upon by focused plyometrics in various intensities, planes of movement and volumes. Mobility work pre-training would focus on specific preparation to the upcoming training session (hamstring v calf complex, etc). We would attack horizontal force capacity via on-field sprint training and high speed running exposure. So much can go into performance planning for an individual, but it all starts with the right data, the genetic data.

📍FITTER Places

Add this to the FITTER Destination List. This is the deepest pool in the World at 60 meters. Would you go for a swim here?

💪 FITTER Workout 💪

I was speaking with a friend the other day who said they dropped the ball on their 2024 Goals and had no idea where to start their fitness goals. I told him to check in the FITTER HUMANS today so everyone could check out simple, yet effective starting strength plan. It’s a 2 circuit program that can be completed in 15 minutes. All exercises are linked to my Youtube page.

Day 1: Total Body - Upper Horizontal Push/Lower Posterior Hip Dominant

A1: 1 Arm DB Bench Press - Body Half Off Bench 3×8 each, tempo 2-1-1

A2: Deadbug Ipsilateral - 3×10

A3: 1 Leg RDL - 3×5 each, tempo 2-1-1

B1: Push Up “T” - 2×5 each

B2: Plank Walk Out - 2×8

B3: 1 Leg Eccentric Only Hamstring Slide Out - 2×4 each, tempo 4 seconds

If you want more simple workout starters, tag me on IG of you completing the work! @danielpguzman

FITTER Ideas

You will be FITTER after checking out these 3:

danielpguzman

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Our Favorite FITTER Newsletters

Back again recommending that you all subscribe to the 10almonds newsletter. I’ve been reading it for a few weeks now and love all of the content they are putting out. Check it out below!

Always striving to make this the best possible newsletter so looking for your feedback:

P.s. please reply to this email with any/all feedback. I love hearing from you all!

Hope you all have a great week, and I can’t wait to see all of you FITTER HUMANS next time!

-Daniel Guzman-