Neurotransmitters: How They Dictate What Type of Fitness is Best for You

First things first - we need to make one thing clear. The best type of fitness is fitness you can SUSTAIN. One you can keep doing consistently.

So let’s help you find whatever form that may be!

If you’re someone who flips and flops with fitness it could be because you’re not training for your neurotransmitter dominance.

All humans are different. In terms of neurotransmitter dominance, we can be either Dopamine, Acetylcholine, Serotonin, or Gaba dominant. Whichever one you may be - learning about it can help you choose the correct fitness route for you!

So how does it work?

Step 1 - Take the Braverman test to find out what type of neurotransmitter dominance you are. It is a simple true or false test that you can complete in a few short minutes.

You can only take this test once! So once you start it, be sure to finish it.

TAKE THE BRAVERMAN TEST

At the end of the test it will tell you what your neurotransmitter dominance is and what neurotransmitter you’re deficient in, it even recommends supplementation to improve whatever neurotransmitter dominance you may be deficient in. (The supplementation recommendations are in no way shape or form, coming from ATH Fitness)

So you’ve taken the test, now what?

Now that you know what your body’s neurotransmitter dominance is you can now figure out what mode of fitness best suits your body!

DOPAMINE DOMINANT - You are the strength athlete! You like grunt work, picking up heavy things and putting them down. Dopamine dominant athletes have the highest capacity for strength gains. You respond well to constantly varied modes of training at high weights and lower volume. It doesn’t take much for you to get stronger and put on muscle.

Your preferred modes of exercise: Strength Training, CrossFit, Strongman, HIIT

ACETYLCHOLINE DOMINANT - You are the speed athlete. You’re usually fast twitch and also have a very high capacity for strength training.

Much to your friend’s annoyance, you are always lean and mean no matter what you eat. Lucky for you, you can eat anything you want and still have abs like Brad Pitt in fight club.

You respond well to progressive overload coupled with speed strength training - i.e. accommodating resistance, olympic lifts, etc. However, since you run on speed, you also need equal amount of rest and sleep to be recovered.

It’s either all go or all rest. 100% on or 100% off.

People who have high levels of Dopamine and Acetyl CoA make for the best olympic weightlifters.

Your Preferred Modes of exercise: Olympic Lifting, Strength Training, Crossfit, Sprinting, HIIT.

GABA DOMINANT OR SEROTONIN DOMINANCE - Lifting weights, high intensity, or super stimulating forms of exercise MIGHT not be the best for you!

A major component of exercise is that it increases serotonin - so if you already have an abundance of serotonin, then high intensity exercise can take take your body over it’s threshold.

All humans seem to have the same ceiling of serotonin allowance before we go into overload. However, some people, like dopamine dominant, start at a much lower baseline. Therefore, they have more room before they hit that ceiling.

That’s why you may not thrive in super stimulating, super intense environments. BUT THAT’S OK. That’s what evolution did - it created yin and yang amongst our species.

Also, if you’re GABA dominant, you tend to be pretty relaxed, so super regimented exercise may not be your jam.

Your Preferred Modes Of Exercise: Playing (whatever that looks like to you), Rock Climbing, Yoga, Team Sports

NON-DOMINANCE - You like to live life in the middle lane! You’re a creature of habit, so doing a consistent training program at higher volume and lower weights is totally fine for you.

Your best type of training can take on whatever form fits your lifestyle the best. Your body will respond well to just about any training you want. You may not have as high of a capacity for strength as the Dopamine Dominant and Acteyl-Coa athlete, but you know what, you’re ok with that.

Life is great with cruise control on!

Now what do you do about your deficiency?

Here’s where most people miss the ball and I don’t want you to make the same mistake.

If you’re deficient in your dominant neurotransmitter, then you should do more of the preferred training that we listed above. However, if you’re deficient in one that isn’t your dominance, then you should look to add in a little bit of the preferred modes of exercise in your deficient neurotransmitter.

For instance, if you are Dopamine dominant but you are deficient in GABA, then you may benefit from taking the foot off the throttle sometimes and doing other forms of relaxing workouts like Yoga or Rock Climbing. (And maybe even follow some of the Braverman supplementation recommendations.)

Mental and physical decompression may be just what you need.

Now let’s look at the reverse. If you’re GABA or Serotonin Dominant but deficient in Dopamine or Acetylcholine, you may benefit from adding in some resistance training from time to time. Doesn’t have to be anything crazy, but it could help you optimize your performance and mental cognition.

Obviously this isn’t an exact science. It would never become a research protocol, but it can help you make the first step to sustainable fitness. Because like we said at the beginning of this post,

the best fitness is sustainable fitness.

The first person to start talking about this was the late Charles Poliquin, which peaked our interest. So much so that we tested all of our athletes at our old gym in Baltimore. The correlation between neurotransmitter dominance and superior levels of strength were astounding.

All of our athletes that were Dopamine dominant or Acetyl Coa were hands down our strongest athletes in the gym. They were much more intense in their training and had no issues with motivation.

Gaba and Serotonin dominant were always our more flexible athletes. Those who didn’t take fitness to lunatic levels of commitment, and did best with 2-3 days of High Intensity Interval Training and another 2 or 3 days of more level headed forms of training like yoga or rock climbing.

Your neurotransmitter dominance isn’t full dictation of what exercise modes you should do or what will be your favorite. If you are Gaba dominant, and still like lifting heavy, we aren’t telling you that you can’t do it! But if you’re gun shy about starting fitness or feel like you’re in a rut, this could be the exact jumping off point that you need!

Finally, if you are a Strength Coach this can be a very valuable tool to be able to customize and optimize your client’s training to what they respond best to!

So give it a whirl, take the Braverman test, and see what you come up with! You have nothing to lose other than more information about yourself!

Neurotransmitter Dominance

Neurotransmitters: How They Dictate What Type of Fitness is Best for You

So let’s help you find whatever form that may be!

Now what do you do about your deficiency?

Mental and physical decompression may be just what you need.

the best fitness is sustainable fitness.

Is your body ready to take on any terrain at any time?