In sports practice, two athletes may follow the same training program, with the same load and recovery routine, yet present completely different injury risks. While one progresses consistently, the other accumulates muscle, tendon, or joint injuries.
These differences are not explained solely by technique, intensity, or training adherence. Genetics plays an important role in this scenario, influencing tissue structure, response to mechanical stress, and recovery capacity.
Why isn’t injury risk the same for everyone?
The body responds to training as an adaptive stimulus. However, the quality of this adaptation varies between individuals.
Genetic factors may influence:
Tendon and ligament integrity
Collagen composition and organization
Inflammatory response to exercise
Tissue repair capacity
Tolerance to training volume and intensity
In practice, this means that the same stimulus may be appropriate for one athlete and excessive for another.
Which tissues are most influenced by genetics?
Genetics has a significant impact on tissues exposed to repetitive stress in sports, such as:
Muscles
Tendons
Ligaments
Cartilage
Genetic variants related to collagen production and remodeling may confer greater or lower tolerance to overload, helping explain the higher incidence of:
Recurrent muscle injuries
Tendinopathies
Ligament ruptures
Chronic effort-related pain
Does genetics determine whether an athlete will get injured?
Genetics does not determine injury, but modulates risk. It indicates how the body tends to respond to physical stress, not whether an injury will necessarily occur.
Clinically, this allows practitioners to:
Design injury prevention strategies
Anticipate vulnerabilities
Adjust training load
Plan recovery more strategically
How does genetics influence post-training recovery?
In addition to injury risk, genetics also affects recovery speed and quality.
Some individuals show:
Slower muscle recovery
Prolonged inflammation after exercise
Greater need for rest between sessions
If not respected, accumulated microdamage may evolve into structural injuries, even in well-conditioned athletes.
When is genetic analysis most useful?
Genetic analysis is particularly useful for:
Athletes with recurrent injury history
High-impact or high-intensity sports participants
Individuals who “do everything right” yet still get injured
Return-to-play planning after injury
Sports with repetitive movement patterns (running, cross-training, football, tennis, strength training)
In these scenarios, genetics enhances planning but does not replace physical assessment or professional follow-up.
Clinical application: using genetics in injury prevention
In clinical and sports practice, genetics can help to:
Individualize training volume and intensity
Guide strength and mobility strategies
Adjust recovery and rest periods
Reduce chronic overload risk
Improve communication between practitioner and athlete
The goal is not to limit performance, but to build safer and more sustainable strategies.
What genetics does NOT replace
It is important to emphasize that genetics:
Does not replace physical assessment
Does not eliminate the need for proper technique
Does not replace professional supervision
Does not predict exactly when or where an injury will occur
It acts as a complementary tool that integrates biological data into training planning.
Conclusion
Injury prevention in sports goes beyond generic training programs and protocols.
Genetics helps us understand how each body responds to physical stress, enabling better risk anticipation and more personalized training and recovery strategies.
In practice, integrating genetics into sports means training smarter—not more cautiously.
Scientific reference
Del Coso J, Rodas G, Soler-Aguinaga A, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, González-Rodenas J, et al.
ACTN3 XX genotype negatively affects running performance and increases muscle injury incidence in LaLiga football players. Genes (Basel). 2024;15(3):386. doi:10.3390/genes15030386.
