The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance (34 page)

Foddy, Bennett, and Julian Savulescu (2011). “Time to Re-Evaluate Gender Segregation in Athletics?”
British Journal of Sports Medicine
, 45(15):1184–88.

72
The testosterone levels of elite female athletes:

Cook, C. J., et al. (2012). “Comparison of Baseline Free Testosterone and Cortisol Concentrations Between Elite and Non-Elite Athletes.”
American Journal of Human Biology
, 24(6):856–58.

72
Female netball players with higher testosterone self-select greater workloads:

Cook, C. J., and C. M. Beaven (2013). “Salivary Testosterone is Related to Self-Selected Training Load in Elite Female Athletes.”
Physiology & Behavior
, 116-117C:8-12 (ePub ahead of print).

74
Men’s hearts get bigger more rapidly:

Kolata, Gina. “Men, Women and Speed. 2 Words: Got Testosterone?”
New York Times
, August 22, 2008.

5

The Talent of Trainability

78
In addition to interviews with Ryun, his book,
In Quest of Gold: The Jim Ryun Story
, written with Mike Phillips, gives a detailed account of his emergence in track and field and is the source of quotes from Ryun’s parents and his own writing.

79
The HERITAGE Family Study has produced more than one hundred journal articles. The HERITAGE papers most central to this chapter:

Bouchard, Claude, et al. (1999). “Familial Aggregation of VO
₂
max Response to Exercise Training: Results from the HERITAGE Family Study.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 87:1003–8.

Bouchard, Claude, et al. (2011). “Genomic Predictors of the Maximal O2 Uptake Response to Standardized Exercise Training Programs.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 10(5):1160–70.

Rankinen, T., et al. (2010). “CREB1 Is a Strong Genetic Predictor of the Variation in Exercise Heart Rate Response to Regular Exercise: The HERITAGE Family Study.”
Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics
, 3(3): 294–99.

Timmons, James A., et al. (2010). “Using Molecular Classification to Predict Gains in Maximal Aerobic Capacity Following Endurance Exercise Training in Humans.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 108:1487–96.

79
A layman’s introduction to the HERITAGE Family Study can be found here:

Roth, Stephen M.
Genetics Primer for Exercise Science and Health
. Human Kinetics, 2007.

83
The independent scientific commentary on the twenty-nine-gene expression signature:

Bamman, Marcas M. (2010). “Does Your (Genetic) Alphabet Soup Spell ‘Runner’?”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 108:1452–53.

84
Data from Miami’s GEAR study were kindly shared by members of the research team, particularly: Pascal J. Goldschmidt (dean, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami); Margaret A. Pericak-Vance (director, Miami Institute of Human Genomics); Jeffrey Farmer (GEAR project manager); Evadnie Rampersaud (director, Division of Genetic Epidemiology in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics).

91
The “naturally fit six” study:

Martino, Marco, Norman Gledhill, and Veronica Jamnik (2002). “High VO
₂
max with No History of Training Is Primarily Due to High Blood Volume.”
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
, 34(6):966–71.

94
Wellington’s “near impossible task”:

“Wellington Wins World Ironman Championships.” Britishtriathlon.org, October 14, 2007.

96
Andrew Wheating’s entry into track and field is described here:

Layden, Tim. “Off to a Blazing Start.”
Sports Illustrated
, September 20, 2010.

96
Alberto Juantorena recounts his switch from basketball to track here:

Sandrock, Michael.
Running with the Legends
. Human Kinetics, 1996, p. 204.

97
Jack Daniels’s five-year study of Jim Ryun:

Daniels, Jack (1974). “Running with Jim Ryun: A Five-Year Study.”
The Physician and Sportsmedicine
, 2:63–67.

98
Study of Japanese junior athletes:

Murase, Yutaka, et al. (1981). “Longitudinal Study of Aerobic Power in Superior Junior Athletes.”
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise,
13(3):180–84.

6

Superbaby, Bully Whippets, and the Trainability of Muscle

100
The original Superbaby paper:

Schuelke, Marcus, et al. (2004). “Myostatin Mutation Associated with Gross Muscle Hypertrophy in a Child.”
New England Journal of Medicine
, 350:2682–88.

101
The first description of myostatin in scientific literature:

McPherron, Alexandra C., Ann M. Lawler, and Se-Jin Lee (1997). “Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Mass in Mice by a New TGF-β Superfamily Member.”
Nature
, 387(6628):83–90.

102
The myostatin mutation found in cattle:

McPherron, Alexandra C., and Se-Jin Lee (1997). “Double Muscling in Cattle Due to Mutations in the Myostatin Gene.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
, 94:12457–61.

103
Whippets and the myostatin mutation:

Mosher, Dana S., et al. (2007). “A Mutation in the Myostatin Gene Increases Muscle Mass and Enhances Racing Performance in Heterozygote Dogs.”
PLoS ONE
, 3(5):e79.

104
Myostatin gene predicts sprinting ability and earnings in horses:

Hill, Emmeline W., et al. (2010). “A Sequence Polymorphism in MSTN Predicts Sprinting Ability and Racing Stamina in Thoroughbred Horses.”
PLoS ONE
, 5(1):e8645.

104
The impact of variations in the myostatin gene on athletic performance in animals:

Lee, Se-Jin (2007). “Sprinting Without Myostatin: A Genetic Determinant of Athletic Prowess.”
Trends in Genetics
, 23(10):475–77.

Lee, Se-Jin (2010). “Speed and Endurance: You Can Have It All.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 109:621–22.

105
Myostatin-inhibiting molecule increased mouse muscle 60 percent in two weeks:

Lee, Se-Jin, et al. (2005). “Regulation of Muscle Growth by Multiple Ligands Signaling Through Activin Type II Receptors.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
, 102(50):18117–22.

105
Pharmaceutical companies are testing drugs that inhibit myostatin in humans:

Attie, Kenneth M., et al. (2012). “A Single Ascending-Dose Study of Muscle Regulator ACE-031 in Health Volunteers.”
Muscle & Nerve
, August 1 (ePub ahead of print).

106
H. Lee Sweeney on his IGF-1 work and the future prospect of gene doping:

Sweeney, H. Lee (2004). “Gene Doping.”
Scientific American
, (July 2004): 63–69.

107
Studies by University of Alabama–Birmingham’s Core Muscle Research Laboratory and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center:

Bamman, Marcas M., et al. (2007). “Cluster Analysis Tests the Importance of Myogenic Gene Expression During Myofiber Hypertrophy in Humans.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 102:2232–39.

Petrella, John K., et al. (2008). “Potent Myofiber Hypertrophy During Resistance Training in Humans Is Associated with Satellite Cell-Mediated Myonuclear Addition: A Cluster Analysis.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 104: 1736–42.

108
GEAR study data was generously shared by members of the University of Miami research team.

108
After twelve weeks, strength gains ranged from 0 percent to 250 percent:

Hubal, M. J., et al. (2005). “Variability in Muscle Size and Strength Gain After Unilateral Resistance Training.”
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
, 37(6):964–72.

109
Muscle contraction speed limits human sprinting:

Weyand, Peter G., et al. (2010). “The Biological Limits to Running Speed Are Imposed from the Ground Up.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 108(4):950–61.

109
An accessible introduction to muscle fiber types, with a chart showing typical proportions:

Andersen, Jesper L., et al. (2007). “Muscle, Genes and Athletic Performance.” In: Editors of
Scientific American
, ed.
Building the Elite Athlete
. Scientific American.

110
Two of the most famous studies of muscle fiber proportions in athletes:

Costill, D. L., et al. (1976). “Skeletal Muscle Enzymes and Fiber Composition in Male and Female Track Athletes.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 40(2):149–54.

Fink, W. J., D. L. Costill. and M. L. Pollock (1977). “Submaximal and Maximal Working Capacity of Elite Distance Runners. Part II: Muscle Fiber Composition and Enzyme Activities.”
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
, 301:323–27.

110
An excellent and freely available primer on muscle fiber types:

Zierath, Juleen R., and John A. Hawley. “Skeletal Muscle Fiber Type: Influence on Contractile and Metabolic Properties.”
PLoS Biology
, 2(10):e348.

110
Frank Shorter’s biopsied calf muscle can be viewed for free online in fig. 2 of this paper:

Zierath, Juleen R., and John A. Hawley. “Skeletal Muscle Fiber Type: Influence on Contractile and Metabolic Properties.”
PLoS Biology
, 2(10):e348.

110
Eight hours a day of electrical stimulation did not change slow-twitch fiber proportions:

Simoneau, Jean-Aimé, and Claude Bouchard (1995). “Genetic Determinism of Fiber Type Proportion in Human Skeletal Muscle.”
The FASEB Journal
, 9:1091–95.

110
The review, coauthored by Jesper Anderson, addressing the impact of training on muscle fibers:

Andersen, J. L., and P. Aagaard (2010). “Effects of Strength Training on Muscle Fiber Types and Size: Consequences for Athletes Training for High-Intensity Sport.”
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
, 20(Suppl. 2):32–38.

110
The Russian study correlating endurance genes and muscle fiber proportions:

Ahmetov, Ildus I. (2009). “The Combined Impact of Metabolic Gene Polymorphisms on Elite Endurance Athlete Status and Related Phenotypes.”
Human Genetics
, 126(6):751–61.

7

The Big Bang of Body Types

114
Winner-take-all markets with discussion of the impact of technology:

Frank, Robert H.
Luxury
Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess
. Free Press, 1999 (Kindle e-book).

115
The joint speed of Jesse Owens was similar to that of Carl Lewis:

Schechter, Bruce. “How Much Higher? How Much Faster?” In: Editors of
Scientific American
, eds. Building the Elite Athlete. Scientific American, 2007.

115
The quote regarding the perfect form of man appears here:

Sargent, D. A. (1887). “The Physical Characteristics of the Athlete.”
Scribner’s Magazine
, 2(5):558.

116
Norton and Olds have written extensively on the changing bodies in the elite athlete pool. Here are two of the best compilation papers, from which many of the sport-specific examples in this chapter were drawn:

Norton, Kevin, and Tim Olds (2001). “Morphological Evolution of Athletes Over the 20th Century: Causes and Consequences.”
Sports Medicine
, 31(11):763–83.

Olds, Timothy. “Chapter 9: Body Composition and Sports Performance.” In: Ronald J. Maughan, ed.
The Olympic Textbook of Science in Sport
, Blackwell Publishing, 2009.

117
Very tall women are 191 times more likely to make an Olympic final than very small women:

Khosla, T., and V. C. McBroom (1988). “Age, Height and Weight of Female Olympic Finalists.”
British Journal of Sports Medicine
, 19:96–99.

119
Norton and Olds coedited the textbook
Anthropometrica
(UNSW Press, 2004), the definitive introduction to the measurement of body types in sports. Chapter 11, “Anthropometry and Sports Performance,” is a treasure trove of information, from the rapid change in the height of high jumpers after the introduction of the Fosbury flop, to graphs showing how the bodies of world record holders vary according to the distance they run.

119
Heat dissipation and body size of runners:

O’Connor, Helen, Tim Olds, and Ronald J. Maughan (2007). “Physique and Performance for Track and Field Events.”
Journal of Sports Sciences
, 25(S2):S49–60.

120
The effect of core temperature on effort (and the impact of amphetamines):

Roelands, Bart, et al. (2008). “Acute Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibition Decreases Performance in Normal and High Ambient Temperature.”
Journal of Applied Physiology
, 105:206–12.

Tucker, Ross (2009). “The Anticipatory Regulation of Performance: The Physiological Basis for Pacing Strategies and the Development of a Perception-Based Model for Exercise Performance.”
British Journal of Sports Medicine
, 43:392–400.

120
Heat dissipation discussion specifically with respect to Paula Radcliffe:

Schwellnus, Martin P., ed.
The Olympic Textbook of Medicine in Sport
. Wiley, 2008, p. 463.

120
The famous 1968 Mexico City Olympics study of body types:

de Garay, Alfonso L., Louise Levine, and J. E. Lindsay Carter, eds.
Genetic and Anthropological Studies of Olympic Athletes
. Academic Press, 1974.

121
Michael Phelps’s short inseam:

McMullen, Paul. “Measure of a Swimmer: From Flipper Feet to a Long Trunk, Phelps Represents a One-Man Body Shop of What a Swimmer Should Be.”
Baltimore Sun
, March 9, 2004.

122
Salary gap between average workers and pro athletes (updated using figures from the U.S. Census Bureau):

Olds, Timothy. “Chapter 9: Body Composition and Sports Performance.” In: Ronald J. Maughan, ed.
The Olympic Textbook of Science in Sport
. Blackwell Publishing, 2009.