Why do we assume bad health comes from lifestyle, but exceptional health comes from genes?

i don't think so wrote:

Every aspect of African lifestyle? From birth, through childhood development? Who are these "thousands of men of other races" of whom you speak?

Some of you guys argue as though east Africans are the only ones who are active during their childhoods and the only ones who train hard during adulthood. They aren't. All throughout the world there are lots of kids who are plenty active, and all throughout the world there are teenagers and adults who run competitively. There are more non-Africans training at a high level than there are Africans doing so. How many of us white Americans on letsrun lived and breathed running from the time we were 14 or 15 all through college and beyond? How many of us listened to Arthur Lydiard and others who recommend running yourself into the ground aerobically to match the mileage of the Africans? Meanwhile, where do these romantic notions of little African kids running 6 miles to and from school every day come from? It's all just a bunch of folklore.

When you say "we assume", who are you referring to, certainly not me.

GeneS Simmons wrote:

Flagpole,

How long did you maintain 140 mpw?

I had a 2-year period in my mid 20s when I thought I wanted to be an ultramarathoner when I ran anywhere from 100-140 MPW 3 out of every 4 weeks during that time period. I would typically do three hard weeks in a row and then step it back to an easy week. In those days, an easy week was 70 miles.

It has always been obvious to me that genetics is the dominant influence on athletic ability. I spent my teenage years raging against my lack of running talent, utterly obsessed with the goal of becoming a world-class athlete when my genetics were average at best. Even back then I was clearly aware of the importance of genetics, but, being even stupider than I was slow, still held out for the laws of nature to make an exception for me, as though the reality of my genetic limitations would somehow magically disappear if only I could convince the running gods that I deserved it enough. In the end, I accomplished nothing in track, and became thoroughly depressed and maladjusted from having organized my life around unrealistic athletic endeavors at which I ultimately failed miserably.

Whoever denies the supremacy of genetics in running is clueless. It is the fundamental understanding upon which all other knowledge must be based. And if you do not clearly understand the role of genetics, you know literally nothing else about running, sport, or nature in general. It is THAT obvious.

I don't think that. I think that people who have a bad lifestyle and bad health like to credit good health with genes so they don't have to admit that they live a bad lifestyle.