Background: The potential influence of genetics in athletic performance allows the search for genetic profiles associated with muscular work for the orientation of strength training and sports selection. The purpose of the study was to analyze four muscular exercises for effectiveness in improving explosive strength variables, associated to the genetics in Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) and α-actinin-3 (ACTN3) polymorphisms.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on a sample of 80 subjects allocated into four groups: concentric muscle work (CMW), eccentric muscle work (EMW), concentric-eccentric muscle (C-EMW) work and isometric muscular work (IMW), by block and gender randomization. Vertical jump, long jump, power jump, and speed were measured to study explosive strength. Genotypic frequencies of ACE (rs4646994) and ACTN3 (rs1815739) were obtained by polymerase chain reaction.
Results: ACE gen showed significant improvements regarding the DD genotype in the Sargent test (p = 0.003) and sprint velocity test (p = 0.017). In the ACTN3 gene, the RR variable obtained improvement results with regard to RX and XX variables in long jump (p < 0.001), Sargent test (p < 0.001) and power jump (p = 0.004).
Conclusions: The selected genes demonstrated an influence on the muscle work and the improvement in explosive strength variables with a decisive role regarding the type of muscle work performed.
Keywords: ACE polymorphism; ACTN3 polymorphism; athletic performance; explosive strength.