The report, published in the journal PLOS ONE, looked at data from 3,012 adults aged 18-55 to see how our genes impact muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness and anaerobic power.

Those are all key factors in determining our fitness, wellbeing and quality of life, and every participant showed improvements in each following their training, but to varying degrees.

72% of the difference between people’s gains after training to improve muscle strength was found to be genetic, while genes accounted for 44% of the differences following cardio. Anaerobic power, which is key for movement and agility, was much less influenced by genetic variations, with scientists accounting for other factors like recovery, diet and injury throughout.

“Because everyone’s genetic make-up is different, our bodies respond slightly differently to the same exercises,” explains the study’s lead author, Henry Chung. “Therefore, it should be possible to improve the effectiveness of an exercise regime by identifying someone’s genotype and then tailoring a specific training programme just for them.”

While that might be great for elite athletes for whom tiny improvements can make a huge difference and who have the resources to have intricate programmes designed for them, most of us probably aren’t able to have a genetically tailored training programme done for us. But that doesn’t mean that this study isn’t useful to us all.

Fitness PSA: if you’re not making gains in the gym, your genes are probably to blame