Table 6.
Genetic Influence on Physical Activity, Exercise Levels, and Exercise Capacity. B = both; DZ= dizygotic; F = female; H = heredity effect; M = male; monozygotic; N.D. = not determined; n = number of subjects; Y = young
| PA Measurement | H-effect | Unique Environmental Effect (unless noted) | MZ (n) | DZ (n) | Sex | Comments | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isometric knee extensor strength | 56% | 42% | 206 | 228 | F | PA effect is non-shared environmental effects. All older women subjects (63–76 yr/old). New non-shared environmental effects responsible for differences at follow up. | (515) |
| leg extensor power | 67% | 33% | |||||
| isometric knee extensor strength (at 3 years follow up) | 58% | 15% | 149 | 164 | |||
| leg extensor power (at 3 years follow up) | 48% | 11% | |||||
| Elbow flexor muscle cross sectional area | 43% | 6% | 25 | 16 | M | Subjects were young (22.4 yr old) Caucasians from Belgium. Remaining variation accounted for by MCSA and environmental effects. | (125) |
| Elbow flexor eccentric strength | 47% | 20% | |||||
| Elbow flexor isometric strength | 32% | 1% | |||||
| Leg extensor power | 32% | 4% | 101 | 116 | F | Finnish Twin Study on Aging. Subjects 63–73 yr old. | (514) |
| Leg extensor strength | 48% | 52% | |||||
| Isokinetic lifting | 60% | 35% | 122 | 131 | M | Finnish twin study. | (446) |
| Psychophysical lifting | 33% | 49% | |||||
| Isometric trunk extensor endurance | 5% | 61% | |||||
| Questionnaires based on country. >60min of 4 MET activity = exerciser | 26.5–70.5% | 29.2–51.9% | 13676 | 23375 | B | Twins from 7 different countries. Australia had lowest genetic – highest unique environmental. UK females had highest genetic. | (497) |
| SportsMET (>4MET activity in last 3 months) | 79% in Y, 41% Mid | 21% in Y 57% Mid | 69Y, 93M | 88Y, 105M | B | Young and middle age subjects | (122) |
| Questionnaire Physical activity amount = 60–150 minutes a week | MZ = 45% DZ = 30% | MZ = 55% | 1003 | 386 | B | Twins from the Washington State twin registry. The more PA you undergo the less the genetic influence there is. | (148) |
| Questionnaire Physical activity amount > 150 minutes a week (current guidelines) | MZH=31% DZ= 25% | MZ = 69% | |||||
| Baecke and exercise Questionnaire | 40–65% | 60–35% | 359 | 232 | M | Nationwide Swedish twins. No shared environmental effect. | (166) |
| Sport participation between ages of 13–16 | 0% | 16–22% | 1095 | 1533 | B | Dutch population. Does not include common environmental | (496) |
| Sport participation between ages of 17–18 | 36% | 17% | |||||
| Sport participation after age of 18 | 85% | 15% | |||||
| Adulthood exercise | 43% | 26% from competitive sports | 121 | M | Finnish twin study. Also found that sports from ages 12–18 was a predictor of adulthood exercise. | (476) | |
| Respiration chamber (doubly labeled H2O) activity-induced energy expenditure | 8% | 30% | 12 | 8 | B | Aged 17–39 yr old. Univariate analysis using the additive genetic, but excluding the common environmental component. | (259) |
| Respiration chamber physical activity by accelerometer | 0% | 59% | |||||
| Doubly labeled H2OFree living activity induced energy expenditure | 72% | 29% | |||||
| Free living PA by accelerometer | 78% | 22% | |||||
| RMR | 3% | 38% | 62 | 38 | B | Aged 4–10. Correlations are corrected for body weight and do not include common environmental | (189) |
| Total EE by Doubly labeled H2O | 19% | 23% | |||||
| Physical Activity energy expenditure | 0% | 31% | |||||
| VO2max, Vmax, HRmax | 40, 50, 60% | N.D. | 106 | 66 | B | Also 42 brothers included in the study | (57) |
| Fiber Type | N.S. | N.D. | 35 | 26 | B | 32 brothers also included MZ twins had inter-pair correlation, but DZ and brothers suggested strong (but not quantified) environmental component. | (58) |
| Skeletal muscle mitochondrial activities | N.S. | ||||||
| Oxidative to glycolytic ratio | 25–50% |
Abbreviations: B, both; DZ, dizygotic; F, female; H, heredity effect; M, male; monozygotic; N.D., not determined; n, number of subjects; Y, young