Dikgacoi, along with Costa Rica’s Bryan Ruiz, England’s Glen Johnson, Greece’s Giorgos Karagounis and Iran’s Ashkan Dejagah has joined DNAFit United, as the soccer stars shared their genetic profiles showing how science, training and nutrition can help naturally improve a player’s performance.
The 29-year-old revealed findings of his DNAFit test, which shows how his body responds to training, its ability to recover from exercise and its risk of soft tissue injury. He’s also the first African sportsperson to publish their DNA data.
The genetic data has been provided by DNAFit – a British nutrigenetics company that tests 45 gene variants scientifically linked to a body’s capacity to respond to training and nutrition. The company was founded by South African entrepreneur Avi Lasarow.
“Over the past decade over a hundred studies have reported significant associations between genetic variations and power / endurance performance and response to training,” Lasarow said. “DNAFit has chosen 18 of these genetic variations for which consistent associations have been demonstrated and created the unique DNAFit Fitness test.”
It uses genetic variant scoring methods to determine an individual’s genetic power/endurance balance score to help devise personal training programmes. DNAFit is now working with several English Premier League and European clubs to improve their players’ performance and fitness.
“Dikgacoi has an almost equal balance between power and endurance, which is ideal for his chosen position. However his test also discovered his injury risk and recovery times are higher than average. These results have led him to make modifications to his training,” Lasarow said.
KG's test revealed that:
– Dikgacoi has an even split of both power and endurance: 37% power, 63% endurance. This is perfect for his chosen position
– His aerobic potential (VO2 max potential) was found to be high.
– His post exercise recovery profile was found to be fast. This means he can recover quickly after very little rest and do more training
– He was found to have a medium sensitivity to saturated fat, meaning he’s more suited to a Low Fat diet
Dr Keith Grimaldi, DNAFit’s Chief Scientific Officer who developed the test, said: “Midfielders need to cover a lot of ground during the game, sometimes having to help in attack and defence. Endurance is a very important attribute for these players and Kashigo has an Endurance bias in his balance.
“The power component is substantial though and he does have both copies of the ACTN3 “C” allele which is important for fast twitch muscle fibres and good for explosive bursts of sprinting speed when required. His recovery speed is fast, again useful for the position where frequent sprints are needed, quicker recovery from short periods of intensive sprinting during a game. This is obviously a huge advantage to midfield players.” Dikgacoi is now using this genetic data to improve his performance on the field.
“The DNAFit test has been eye-opening and I wish I had had access to it years ago. Reaching the top levels of sport player takes a lot of hard work, luck and timing. But if I’d have known what my genetic strengths and weaknesses when I was younger, I would have been able to train more effectively,” the player said.
Free State-born Dikgacoi admits he was a bit wary when he took the test but found the results remarkably accurate. “It appears I’m more suited to endurance sports and activity and I have to cover a lot of ground during the match as a midfielder. I always felt that I could recover quite quickly from training sessions which is exactly what the test predicted.
“The test has given me a lot of information to help me adjust my diet, increase nutrients and slightly amend my training to ensure I am at the peak of fitness and reduce my risk of soft-tissue damage. I think DNAFit will make a huge difference to how clubs train their players. It will be more personal and tailored to the individual. I also think it will play a huge role in helping to develop young players as they embark on their careers.”
A simple mouth swab collects the DNA that is then sent away for analysis by DNAFit to its laboratories in Norwich, England. The results present an in-depth picture to allow an individual’s genetic profile to be used as a powerful parameter to further define optimal training methods, power/endurance predisposition, potential injury risk and recovery speed.
From the DNAFit test it is also possible to learn about an individual’s optimal nutrition and diet plan based on their genetics.
There is currently great momentum behind the role of genetics in sporting performance, with David Epstein’s book “The Sports Gene” recently becoming a New York Times bestseller. Sport science is using DNA testing to reveal key individual genetic characteristics in the quest for ever-improving performance and injury reduction.
DNAFit is already working with elite professional sportspeople, such as British 800m sprinter Jenny Meadows, and premier professional football teams to maximise their performance and improve their conditioning through this ground-breaking gene analysis.
“We’re proud that Kagisho has joined DNAFit United to promote how players can naturally improve their performance by adjusting their training with the help of their genetic data. We’re delighted to be helping Kagisho and hope our test and training programme will help him in his career,” Lasarow said.
Its tests are DNAFit Fitness and DNAFit Diet, which can predict whether a person would best lose weight with a low fat, low carb or Mediterranean diet.
The tests will be available to the South African public before the end of the year.
