How does your personality impact your training, nutrition, and lifestyle choices?
Whew, that’s a great question and one I could write an entire book about.
It’s actually pretty straight forward.
You ever wonder why some people prefer CrossFit, others prefer bodybuilding, others prefer powerlifting, while others prefer Orange Theory?
You ever wonder why some people prefer keto, others prefer high carb, some prefer fasting, while others prefer 6 meals per day?
I’ll tell you this … it’s not random.
The surface level answer is this …
Your personality tells us what you’ll be able to stay the most consistent with and enjoy the most.
Simple.
If you enjoy your training and nutrition plan and you’re able to stay consistent for long enough (hint: like forever) …
Then your results will be epic.
However, let’s take it one layer deeper.
Your personality characteristics give us the best insight into your brain chemistry and neurotransmitter balance.
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that control everything we do and feel.
Mood, emotions, muscle contractions, confidence, fear, anxiety, digestion, blood flow, etc. are all controlled by neurotransmitters.
You can get a blood test and see your levels, but that simply shows you a snapshot in time.
It doesn’t give us much information about the system as a whole.
For example, a blood test might show high dopamine levels but what if your dopamine receptors are resistant to the dopamine you’re producing?
The blood test wouldn’t give us that information.
We need to assess your personality traits and how you feel to get an idea of the system as a whole.
Which is why, as it stands today, a personality assessment will be the most accurate way to learn about your neurotransmitter dominance.
Why does that matter?
Because, again, neurotransmitters control everything.
Not feeling motivated? Could be a dopamine issue.
Can’t get to sleep? Could be a serotonin or GABA issue.
Feeling overly emotional? Could be a glutamate issue.
Can’t focus? Could be an acetylcholine issue.
You get the point.
When you understand your dominant neurotransmitter system, you also understand what drives your behavior.
Someone who is dopamine dominant will be a hyper-responder to increases in dopamine.
In this example, you’ll typically see dopamine seeking behaviors like potential drug use, eating fast food or hyper palatable foods, taking risks like jumping out of a plane, and a strong desire to win.
Why? Because dopamine is the pleasure-seeking neurotransmitter that hits the reward system in the brain.
Dopamine dominant individuals are very goal driven, are typically extroverted, and love to take risks.
So what does this have to do with training and nutrition?
Well, once we identify that we’re working with a dopamine dominant personality type, we can construct a training and nutrition plan to support dopamine production and sensitivity.
The worst thing that can happen to a dopamine dominant individual is dopamine depletion and/or desensitization of the dopamine receptors.
Dopamine depletion can occur when your brain produces too much dopamine.
It’s easy to become addicted to your body’s own dopamine … anyone who obsessively checks social media all day can understand this fact.
Each time you check your device, you get a dopamine hit. Each time you see a notification, you get a dopamine hit. The more you scroll, the more you check and see notifications, the more dopamine you continue to produce.
This is just one example. The same can be said for things like drug use, gambling, porn, or eating hyper palatable foods.
In a short time frame, it likely won’t be a big deal.
However, if the behaviors continue, your body will have used up the resources to produce more dopamine and you’ll end up with dopamine depletion.
That will make any dopamine dominant individual feel like crap.
Zero motivation. No energy. No joy.
So from a nutrition standpoint, we want to support dopamine production by eating a high protein diet which gives us the raw materials to produce dopamine.
Keep fats higher and a bit lower on carbs to prevent serotonin production over dopamine. Also, food quality is important as dopamine dominant individuals tend to have trouble with sugary foods and fast food.
Too much stress on the system can also create issues so we need proper sleep and recovery.
From a training standpoint, we want to program in a way that allows a dopamine dominant individual to win each workout.
That means neurologically demanding, heavy weights, progressive overload, high intensity, a bit lower in volume.
Too much volume will convert dopamine to adrenaline, which can also cause problems.
From a lifestyle standpoint, we want to manage stress, get outside for walks, listen to music, get some sunlight, participate in some self care, and prioritize quality sleep.
All things that help to produce and support dopamine.
This is just one example to see the role that your personality plays in your success.
We look at the same concepts with an adrenaline-dominant individual or a serotonin dominant individual.
The plans will be different but the way we analyze what will work best is the same.
Once we have those pieces in place, we look to support proper metabolic function through what we call Metabolic Priming.
Make sure you’re eating enough and establishing quality habits that will serve you for life.
This process makes fat loss and body composition changes much more effective and sustainable.
Lastly, we ensure that everything you’re doing supports the life you want to live.
It doesn’t mean much if you can’t still enjoy your life to the fullest.
If everything I just outlined makes sense to you … then it shouldn’t be hard to see why we have one of the most successful coaching programs in the industry.
