You Paid for a DNA Test. Here's What You Never Found Out.
By Doychin Karshovski — Performance & Longevity Coach
7 min read
You spit in a tube. You mailed it off. You got a report.
It told you something about your ancestry, maybe a few health risk flags, possibly that you have the "sprinter gene" or that cilantro tastes like soap to you.
And then you closed the tab and never thought about it again.
You are not alone. Tens of millions of people have taken a consumer DNA test. Almost none of them have used it for what it is actually capable of.
This article is about the gap between what those tests show you and what your biology is actually telling you — and what it takes to bridge that gap into something useful.
The test was never the point
Consumer DNA tests — 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and others — were built primarily for ancestry. That is what the companies sell, what the marketing is built around, and what most people buy them for.
The health and fitness information is real, but it is presented as a secondary feature, and it is delivered without context, without expertise, and without any follow-through.
Here is what I mean. A report might tell you that you have a genetic variant associated with higher lactate threshold — which means you may recover from intense exercise faster than average. That is genuinely useful information. But what do you do with it? How does it change how you train this week? How does it interact with your sleep quality, your current workload, your age and stress level?
The report does not tell you any of that. It cannot. It is a data output, not a coaching relationship.
My work begins exactly where the report ends.
What the different tests actually measure — and what that means for you
Before we get to how you can use your existing results, it helps to understand what these tests actually do — and importantly, what they do not do.
Consumer genotyping tests (23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA) analyze between 600,000 and 700,000 specific locations in your genome, called SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). These are known, mapped variations where people commonly differ from each other. The tests are fast, affordable, and well-established. They do not read your entire genome — they read specific markers that researchers have studied.
Whole genome sequencing reads your complete genome — all 3 billion base pairs. It is more comprehensive but also significantly more expensive, and for most coaching and performance purposes, the additional data does not materially change the practical recommendations. The tested SNPs cover the vast majority of what is actionable for health, performance, and longevity coaching.
Specialized fitness and health DNA platforms (like the one I use in my professional practice, FitnessGenes) are built specifically around performance and longevity markers. The lab analyzes the same type of genetic material, but the reporting framework is designed around training, recovery, nutrition, hormonal health, and biological aging — not ancestry. This is what I use for clients who want to start fresh and get the full picture from the beginning.
The practical bottom line: If you have already taken any of the major consumer tests listed above, your raw genetic data is compatible with the professional platform I use. You do not need to test again. The data you already have is sufficient to begin.
The 23andMe situation — what you need to know right now
If you tested with 23andMe, there is something important you should be aware of.
In March 2025, 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was sold in July 2025 to TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit founded by 23andMe's original co-founder. The service has continued operating, and raw data downloads remain available.
However, the bankruptcy raised a serious question that many people are only now thinking about: what happens to your genetic data when the company holding it runs out of money?
The answer is: it depends entirely on who buys it, what policies they adopt, and what laws apply — which, at the federal level in the US, are limited.
My recommendation, regardless of what you decide to do with it: download your raw data now and save it locally on your device. This is your data. It should live on your computer, not only on a company's server.
Downloading it also opens the door to using it with professional platforms — including the one I work with — to extract the health and performance insights the ancestry report was never designed to deliver.
How to download your raw data — step by step
This is simpler than most people expect. The process takes about five minutes, and your file is usually ready within minutes to a few days depending on the provider.
From 23andMe
Log in to your 23andMe account at 23andme.com
Click your profile name in the top right corner
Select Resources from the dropdown menu
Click Browse Raw Genotyping Data, then Download at the top of the page
Confirm your date of birth and check the consent box
Click Submit request — you will receive an email when the file is ready
Open the email and click the download link
Save the .zip file to your computer — do not delete it
The file will be named something starting with "genome" and will be between 5–21 MB depending on format.
From AncestryDNA
Log in to your AncestryDNA account
Click Settings near the top right of the page
Click Download your raw DNA data
Enter your password and check the confirmation box
You will receive an email — click Confirm data download
Download and save the file
Important: If you have multiple profiles on your AncestryDNA account, each person's file will download with the same filename. Rename each file immediately after downloading so you know which belongs to whom.
From other providers
MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and LivingDNA all offer raw data downloads through their account settings pages. The process is similar — log in, navigate to account or DNA settings, and look for a download or export option. If you are not sure where to find it, search "[provider name] download raw data" and go to their official support page.
What happens after you have the file
Once you have your raw data, you have options.
Option 1 — You already have results, and you want to understand what they mean for your performance.
This is where my DNA Analysis session comes in. You share your raw data file, it is processed through my professional platform, and we spend a focused session together going through what your genetic profile means for your training, recovery, nutrition, inflammation, hormonal health, sleep, and biological aging.
This is not a generic "eat more protein" conversation. It is a specific, data-informed discussion about your biology — what your genes suggest you respond to, where your natural advantages are, and where you need to work smarter rather than harder.
Option 2 — You have never tested, or you want to start fresh with a purpose-built performance DNA test.
In this case, I order a kit through my professional platform and have it delivered directly to your address. You provide a saliva sample at home, mail it back to the lab, and results are processed within 4–6 weeks. From there, we work together exactly as in Option 1.
Option 3 — You want ongoing coaching built around your genetic profile.
This is the full engagement — a 300-day coaching process where your DNA data forms the foundation of an evolving performance and longevity system. We track your progress, adjust protocols as your behavior and biology respond, and build a system that holds up under the real pressures of your life.
What my work actually is — and what it is not
I want to be precise about this, because there is a lot of noise in this space.
I am a performance and longevity coach. I have been coaching for over 35 years, and I have been working with DNA-based coaching for more than five years through a clinical-grade professional platform.
What I do: I help you understand and act on your genetic data within the context of your real life — your training history, your recovery capacity, your stress load, your goals, your constraints. I translate complex genetic reports into practical, executable plans.
What I do not do: I do not diagnose. I do not prescribe. I do not replace your physician. If your results suggest a meaningful health risk, I will tell you to discuss it with a doctor. My role is performance coaching, not medicine.
The value I bring is not the report. The report is a starting point. The value is in knowing which parts of the report matter for you specifically, what they mean in the context of your actual life, and what to do about them — not in theory, but this week.
Who this is and is not for
This kind of work is for people who:
Think long-term about their health and performance
Are willing to act on data rather than wait for a crisis to force change
Want to stop following generic advice that was designed for someone else
Are ready to invest real time and attention, not just money
It is not for people who want a quick fix, a supplement stack recommendation, or a motivation boost. My coaching is built on the Stay Ahead™ framework — which means we build systems before problems appear, not after.
If you are still running on the health advice you got in your 30s, still following a training program designed for the average person, and still ignoring the data sitting in your DNA report — this is a good moment to change that.
Where to start
If you already have a DNA test result from any major provider, the fastest path is to download your raw data (instructions above) and book a discovery call. We will discuss your situation, confirm compatibility, and I will explain exactly what the process looks like.
If you have never tested, we can discuss whether the full DNA package makes sense for your goals, timeline, and budget.
Either way, the starting point is the same: a 20-minute discovery call. Not a sales pitch. A conversation about whether this is the right fit, the right time, and the right level of commitment.
You can request that call here
Doychin Karshovski is a Performance & Longevity Coach with over 35 years of experience. He works with a limited number of committed clients in both English and Bulgarian. His coaching is available online worldwide, including to clients in the US.
All coaching services are educational and performance-focused. They do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
