10 Pounds of Lean Mass in 7 Months (29 Weeks) Genetic Factors

When I started my health journey I had the following stats:

Weight: 152 lb

Body Fat percentage: 39.70%. Estimated from my height of 5'3.5", 37" waist, 40" naval measurement, using tape measure method

30 Weeks (Including Week 28 when I was sick and not working out the entire week)

Weight: 140 lb

Body Fat Percentage: 27.43%, Averaging caliper measurements from weeks 28 and 32 

Over the 29 weeks I was working out, beginning with a combination of walking and weightlifting to presently weightlifting, a little cardio, and reducing calorie intake a tad, I gained about 10 pounds of lean mass.  That seems a little high for a 34 year old female. So I dug around in my 23andme raw data looking for clues as to why the lean mass gain was on the high side.  I was homozygous for the "power athlete" allele in the ACTN3 gene.  That means more fast twitch muscles, which are more apt to grow, relative to slow twitch muscles.

In my quest to heal my postpartum depression and insomnia without having to remain dependent on medications, I looked at the raw data for genes that regulate hormones.  And I may have found a reason for the quick muscle growth.  

I am heterozygous for the following:

rs1691053, associated with the SRD5A1 gene, minor allele frequency (MAF) 0.10 (10% of the population).  SRD5A1 is involved with converting testosterone to the more potent DHT.

rs1004467, CYP17A1, MAF = 0.15, increases testosterone and DHT

rs1799941, SHBG, MAF = 0.17, decreases SHBG, which means more free testosterone and DHT.  And more free estrogen, to a lesser degree, as SHBG has more affinity to testosterone and DHT.

Compared my heterozygous alleles with my SO's homozygous common alleles for all three variants.

I had cystic acne since puberty which did not clear up until I took cherry extract as adult for gout and pregnancy!  I always had broad shoulders.  Since lifting weights I noticed that my upper body is proportionally stronger than my lower body.

Increased androgens means faster muscle growth.  Perhaps that is the main reason for the relatively quick muscle growth.  But I like anyone had to "bust my chops" lifting weights to gain muscle via progressive overload.

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