Charles Poliquin is known as one of the best strength coaches that did it. He coached Olympic gold medalists and world champs in a heap of sports.

His methods have been widely adopted.

But there's one (lesser known) strategy he considered critical to his athletes' success.

He worked out:

Our neurotransmitter profile influences the type of training programs we respond best to 🤯

Neurotransmitters are chemicals flying around the body. The nervous system uses them to communicate with itself.

These chemicals affect how we think, feel and behave.

There's different types of neurotransmitters. All with different functions.

The big 4 are:

• ⚡️ Dopamine (energy, motivation)
• ⚡️ Acetyl-choline (memory, focus)
• 💤 GABA (mood, stress response)
• 💤 Serotonin (mood)
  

We all have different ratios of these chemicals 👆 in our bodies depending on our makeup. Most of us are either dominant in 1 specific type or balanced across all 4.

The Braverman test (done online in 15-minutes) is the most simple and effective way to determine your neurotransmitter profile:

• 📈 You're dominant in a specific type if you score above 40 in that section
• ⚖️ Less than 40 in all sections, you're balanced
  

*These tests are never conclusive, just a helpful indicator

🪄 So our mate Charles went full wizard mode and worked out that different profiles respond better to different programs...

Before we dive in:

• Intensity = high effort or heavy weight
• Volume = high reps, sets, exercises
• Variety = a mix of the two
  

🏋 Dopamine-dominant, respond best to intensity

• For strength: low reps, heavy weight, exercise variety
• General fitness: Short max efforts (10 seconds) with short rests
  

🤹 Acetylcholine-dominant, respond best to variety

• For strength: Mix of low reps, heavy weight and higher reps, lower weight, with lots of exercise variety
• General fitness: Vary intensities, volumes, training and exercise types
  

⚖️ Balanced, respond best to volume (less than 40 in all sections)

• Strength: High reps, sets, exercises, lower weight
• General fitness: Longer efforts (lots of super high-intensity work will quickly burn you out), structure, consistency
  

Charles rarely came across GABA or Serotonin dominant individuals who wanted to get strong.

But, if you are...

• ⚖️ GABA-dominant: respond best to the balanced style
• 🧘 Serotonin-dominant: will likely want something more chill, like yoga
  

Even though Charles used it for strength, I feel like it can be helpful to know for other areas of performance.

E.g. Knowing I'm balanced and respond best to volume, means lots of HIIT training is gonna burn me out quick. But I can do the same sessions on end without spending time looking for variety.

And more broadly:

• 🗓 Routine is gonna be helpful for me
• 🔁 I'll learn better with reps, and that
• 😴 Rest is crucial after work-sprints

... is useful to know.

I definitely didn't need a personality test to tell me that 👆. But it's been cool to understand why. And it's made me comfier leaning into those behaviours (a good thing cause I respond better to them).

If you're interested, do the Braverman test. It might give you some useful info to help your performance.