Bafana Bafana's Kagisho Dikgacoi has become one of the first sportsmen in the world to publicly reveal the secrets of their DNA and use the revolutionary genetic test to improve performance.

The Crystal Palace midfielder, 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.

KG, 29, 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.

Lasarow said, “Over the past decade over a hundred studies have reported significant associations between genetic variations and power / endurance performance and response to training. 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."

The 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

The tests will be available to the South African public before the end of the year.