The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

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The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance Page 38

by David Epstein


  pre- and postpuberty gap in athletic skills, 67–68

  running and, 62–63

  sexual differentiation, background on, 61

  sexual selection and, 64–74

  SRY gene and, 61, 71, 74

  swimming and, 63

  targeting skills and, 62

  testosterone levels and, 62, 67–68, 69, 70, 72–73

  throwing skills and, 61–62

  track-and-field events and, 63

  Manley, Michael, 176

  Manley, Norman, 176

  Manners, John, 186–94

  Manners, Robert, 188

  Manning, Peyton, 14

  Mäntyranta, Eero, 267–75, 278–83

  Mäntyranta, Harri, 279–80

  Mäntyranta, Iiris, 267, 268–69, 278, 280, 281

  Mäntyranta, Rakel, 267–68

  Mäntyranta, Tommy, 268–69

  Mäntyranta, Viktor, 268–69

  Mäntyranta family EPOR mutation, 273–81

  marathon style dogsled racing, 229–30

  Marfan syndrome, 121–22

  Marial, Guor, 201

  Maron, Barry, 245, 246, 250

  Maron, Martin, 250

  Maroons, 163–66

  Martin, David, 219

  Martínez-Patiño, Mariá José, 56–59, 70, 275

  Martino, Marco, 90–91

  Matthew effect, 35, 36–37

  Matthews, Peter, 203

  Mattis, Carlos, 29

  Mayweather, Floyd, Jr., 237, 241

  McGlone, Samantha, 94–95

  McLaughlin, Dan, 18–20, 22–23

  melanocortin 1 receptor gene (MC1R), 260

  Melzack, Ronald, 264

  Mesler, Steve, 237

  Mexico City Olympics (1968) study of body types, 120––22, 138

  MGF gene, 109

  Milstein, Alan, 251

  Mir, Frank, 263

  missense mutations, 247

  Mogil, Jeffrey, 260, 265

  “Momentous Sprint at the 2156 Olympics?” (Tatem et al.), 59

  Moran, Patty, 228

  Morey, Daryl, 135

  Morris, Eric, 224, 232–33

  Morrison, Errol, 158, 159, 174, 175–76, 177, 180, 181, 184, 185

  Morrison Syndrome, 158

  Moss, Randy, 173

  muscle fibers

  fat burning capacity and, 123

  malaria and muscle fiber theory (See malaria and muscle fiber theory)

  muscle growth potential and, 109–13

  muscles, 100–13

  ACTN3 gene and, 152–57

  follistatin and, 105

  genes and, 101–9

  IGF-1 transgene and, 105–6

  muscle fiber types, 109–13, 123

  myostatin gene and, 101–4

  satellite cell activity and trainability of, 107–9

  Superbaby and, 100–1, 102–3

  trainability of, 107–13

  muscular dystrophy, 152–53

  Mutai, Geoffrey, 204

  MYH7 gene, 247

  myogenin gene, 109

  myonuclei, 107

  myostatin gene (GDF-8), 101–4, 106–7

  myostatin inhibitor drugs, 105

  naturally fit six, 91

  natural selection, 64, 147

  Nature, 59, 60, 69

  Nature Genetics, 136

  nature versus nurture, 34–37, 282–90

  Matthew effect and, 35, 36–37

  Thorndike’s experiment and, 34–35

  variance in, 37

  neurons, 51

  New York Times, The, 60, 285

  Ngatia, Harun, 208

  Nike, 132

  Nilotic body type, 198–99

  nitric oxide, 212

  Noah, Joakim, 283–84

  North, Kathryn, 152–56

  Norton, Kevin, 115, 116–17, 122, 132, 139

  Nousiainen, Viljo, 25

  Nurmi, Paavo, 271

  occlusion test

  Abernethy and, 11–12

  Starkes and, 6–8

  O’Connell, Colm, 202–3, 210

  Olds, Tim, 115, 116–17, 122, 127, 132, 139

  Olsen, Joachim, 111

  Olympics in Athens 1896: The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games (Smith), 23

  On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 289

  Operation Yao Ming (Larmer), 288

  Oromo runners

  altitude and, 210, 213–14, 215

  socioeconomic factors and, 208–9

  Outliers (Gladwell), 19, 22, 28, 131

  Owens, Jesse, 115

  oxygen saturation, 211

  pain, 259–65

  COMT gene and variants, 261–63

  congenital insensitivity to, 260–61

  learned element of, 264–65

  melanocortin 1 receptor gene (MC1R) and, 260

  SCN9A gene and, 261

  sensitivity to, in game situations, 263–64

  stress-induced analgesia and, 263

  Parkinson’s disease, 239

  personalized medicine, 84–85

  Peters, Michael A., 39

  pharmacogenetics, 150

  Phelps, Michael, 121–22

  phenotype, 151

  physical activity. See voluntary physical activity

  Piazza, Mike, 1, 3, 40

  Pinker, Steven, 66

  Pippen, Scottie, 129–30

  Pitsiladis, Yannis, 158–69, 207–10, 215, 283, 288

  Plato, 115

  polycythemia, 274–75

  Powell, Asafa, 170

  practice, 14–17

  amount of deliberate practice of top competitors, 34

  range of hours required to acquire expertise, 21–23, 33–34

  skill acquisition studies and, 34–37

  10,000 hours to expertise rule (See 10,000 hours to expertise rule)

  private mutations, 247, 285–86

  Psychology of Baseball, The (Stadler), 42

  Pujols, Albert, 2–3, 12–13, 14

  race, and genetic diversity, 142–57

  ACTN3 gene and, 152–57

  African Americans, genetic background of, 150–51

  African origin model and, 143–44

  body type differences and, 138–41

  decrease in diversity with distance from Africa, 144, 146–47

  geographic ancestry, DNA identification of, 149

  greater genetic diversity in African populations, 142–45

  lactose tolerance and, 147–48

  99 to 99.5 percent DNA similarity of humans, 148–49

  phenotypic diversity and, 151–52

  self-identified race and genetics, 149–50

  skin color as proxy for genetic information, 150

  T/E ratio testing, genes conferring immunity to, 148

  racehorse breeding, 287–88

  Radcliffe, Paula, 119–20, 221

  Randich, Julius, 192

  range of hours of practice required to acquire expertise, 21–23, 33–34

  Range of Human Capacities, The (Wechsler), 36

  Rankinen, Tuomo, 84

  Rasmussen, Dave, 71

  Redick, J. J., 135

  Reed, Pam, 234–37

  regression to the mean, 288–89

  Rehm, Heidi, 247, 248, 249

  Reilly, Kevin, 156

  REVEAL Study, 257

  Richards, Kevin, 242–45, 246, 248, 252

  Richards-Ross, Sanya, 173

  Risch, Neil, 149–50

  Ritalin, 234, 239

  Robinson, Nate, 133, 134

  Rock, Chris, 148
<
br />   Rodman, Dennis, 128–29, 130

  Rodriguez, Alex, 4

  “Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance, The” (Ericsson et al.), 16

  Rolle, Henry, 30

  Romain, Bruce, 243–44, 245

  Rono, Aron, 192

  Rosenbaum, Louis J., 38–40, 44

  Rotich, Paul, 192

  Rowe-Edwards, Norma, 162

  Rudisha, David, 202–3, 210

  rugby, and speed, 47–48

  Runner’s World, 190, 202

  running. See also speed

  Kalenjin runners (See Kalenjin runners)

  Kenyan runners (See Kenyan runners)

  Oromo runners (See Oromo runners)

  Sudanese runners, 199–201

  running economy

  Berardelli’s paper comparing European and Kenyan, 220–21

  defined, 197

  of Kalenjin runners, 197–98

  training and, 221

  Run to Overcome (Keflezighi), 95

  RUNX1 gene, 83–84

  Rybakov, Yaroslav, 31, 32

  Ryun, Jim, 75–79, 85–86, 99

  salary gap between average workers and pro athletes, 122

  Saltin, Bengt, 198

  Sandoval, Anthony, 216–19

  Sandoval, Presiliano, 216

  Sarich, Vincent, 201

  satellite cells, 107–9

  Savinova, Mariya, 70

  Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 110

  Schneider, Wolfgang, 44–46

  Schuelke, Markus, 100–1, 102

  Science, 149, 290

  SCN9A gene, 261

  See to Play (Peters), 39

  self-identified race, and genetics, 149–50

  Semenya, Caster, 69–70

  sex testing, 56–59, 69–70

  sexual differentiation, 61

  sexual selection, 64–74

  Shaheen, Saif Saaeed, 204–5

  Sheers, Emma, 49

  Shorter, Frank, 110, 218

  sickle-cell anemia, 180–81

  sickle-cell trait, 177–81

  Simon, Herbert A., 9–10

  simple reaction time, 4–5, 6

  Simpson, Mona, 285

  Simpson, Sherone, 170–72

  Sjöberg, Patrik, 24, 25

  skeletal structure, 123–26

  skeleton, 48–49

  skill acquisition, 34–37

  skin color, 145

  phenotypic diversity and, 151–52

  as proxy for genetic information, 150

  sled dogs, 223–33

  aerobic capacity of, 231

  characteristics bred for, 230–33

  Mackey and, 223–30

  training response of, 231–32

  work ethic bred into, 223–25, 227–30, 232–33

  slow-twitch muscle fibers

  and fat burning capacity, 123

  muscle growth potential and, 109–13

  sprinting and, 173

  Smith, Michael Llewellyn, 23

  Snell, Peter, 212–13

  soccer, and speed, 46–47

  softball

  simple reaction time and, 4–5, 6

  visual acuity of U.S. Olympian team, 38–43

  Sparks, Rob, 228

  speed

  ACTN3 gene and, 154–57

  Groningen talent studies and, 46–48, 173

  Jamaican sprinters, study of (See Jamaican sprinters)

  Kalenjin runners (See Kalenjin runners)

  malaria and muscle fiber theory (See malaria and muscle fiber theory)

  myostatin gene mutation and, 103–4

  speed plateau, 52

  Sports Illustrated, 283

  Springstein, Thomas, 106

  sprinting. See speed

  SRY gene, 61, 71, 74

  Stadler, Mike, 42

  Starkes, Janet

  on innate genetic differences, 54–55

  occlusion test and, 6–8, 10

  Steele, Michelle, 49

  Sternberg, Wendy, 263–64

  Stewart, Kerron, 171–72

  stop codon, 277

  stress-induced analgesia, 263

  stretch shortening cycle, 32–33

  Sudanese runners, 199–201

  sudden death in athletes, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). See hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)

  Superbaby, 100–1, 102–3

  Sweeney, H. Lee, 105–6, 109

  Swenson, Rick, 225–26

  swimming, 63, 141

  Sylvia, Tim, 263

  Tadese, Zersenay, 198

  Talent is Overrated (Colvin), 19

  talent transfer, 50

  Tanner, J. M., 126, 136, 137, 290

  Tanui, Moses, 207

  targeting skills, 62

  Tay-Sachs disease, 146

  technological enhancements, and improvement in athletic performance, 115

  tendon injuries, 257–59

  tennis

  occlusion test and, 12

  Schneider’s study of general athleticism and tennis skill acquisition in children, 44–46

  10,000 hours to expertise rule, 16–23, 114–15

  as average number of hours to reach expertise, 21–23

  early childhood specialization and, 51–53

  Ericsson’s study, 16–17

  McLaughlin’s golf experiment and, 18–20

  ten-year rule. See 10,000 hours to expertise rule

  T/E ratio testing, genes conferring immunity to, 148

  Tergat, Paul, 206–7, 209

  testosterone, 61, 62, 72–73

  effect of, in females, 69

  levels of, as test for sex, 70

  male puberty and, 67–68

  This Week in Baseball (TV show), 3

  Thomas, Donald, 29–31, 289

  Thompson, Paul D., 252

  Thorndike, Edward, 34–36

  thoroughbreds, 104, 287–88

  threshold hypothesis, 131–32

  throwing skills, 61–62

  Tibetans, 211–12

  Timmons, Bob, 78

  Tinari, Nancy, 90, 95

  Tishkoff, Sarah, 143, 150–51

  “Toward a Science of Exceptional Achievement” (Ericsson), 16–17

  Track & Field News, 189, 191

  trainability, 75–99

  above-average response to training, 86–89

  altitude and, 214–15

  GEAR study and, 84, 108

  genes and, 83–85

  HERITAGE Family Study and, 79–86, 290

  high baseline aerobic fitness and, 89–99

  high responder to training coupled with high baseline aerobic capacity, 95–99

  of muscles, 107–13

  running economy and, 221

  sled dogs and, 231–32

  transforming growth factor-ß, 101

  transgenes, 105–6

  TRP-792 frameshift, 248

  Tucker, Ross, 52–53

  Tulu, Derartu, 209

  21-hydroxylase deficiency, 71–72

  UGT2B17 gene, 148

  U.S. News & World Report, 59

  Van Loo, Anthony, 251

  variance

  defined, 37

  in skill performance, 36–37

  violinists, study of, 14–16

  visual acuity, 38–43

  cone density and, 39

  in general population, 40

  of major league baseball players, 38–43

  theoretical limit of, 39

  of U.S. Olympians, 43

  in youn
g people, 40–41

  Vitruvian Man (da Vinci), 115, 134

  VO2max (aerobic capacity). See aerobic capacity (VO2max)

  volleyball, and occlusion test, 6–7

  voluntary physical activity, 234–41

  compulsive, 234–38

  dopamine system and, 239–40

  genetics and, 238–41

  twin studies and, 238–39

  Vuopio, Pekka, 274

  Wade, Dwyane, 134

  Walker, Herschel, 237–38

  Wall, John, 134

  warrior-slave theory, of Jamaican sprinters, 163–66

  warrior/worrier gene, 262

  Webb, Spud, 133

  Wechsler, David, 36

  Wellington, Chrissie, 91–95, 237, 289

  West Indian Medical Journal, 175

  Wheating, Andrew, 96

  whippets, 103–4, 231

  Whitbourne, Fay, 178

  Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC program), 167

  Why Dick Fosbury Flopped (Farrow & Kemp), 91

  Why Michael Couldn’t Hit (Klawans), 51

  Williams, Alun, 286–87, 288

  Williams, Ferron, 162

  Williams, Ted, 41

  “Will Women Soon Outrun Men” (Whipp & Ward), 59

  Wilson, Vicki, 34

  winner-take-all markets, 114, 115, 132

  Big Bang of body types and, 116, 117

  “Women Will Do It in the Long Run” (Beneke, Leithäuser & Dopplmayr), 59

  Woods, Tiger, 53

  work ethic, breeding for

  in mice, 233–34

  in sled dogs, 223–25, 227–30, 232–33

  Wyeth, 105

  XY women, 57, 70–71

  Yao Ming, 135, 288

  youth track programs, in Jamaica, 169–74

  Yukon Quest, 223, 224

  Yuot, Macharia, 200

  Zorro (sled dog), 224–25, 228, 229, 230

  *We all use forms of chunking every day. Consider language: if I give you a twenty-word sentence to remember, you will have a much easier time repeating it than if I give you twenty random words that have no meaningful relationship to one another.

  *Pro cricket teams have been moving away from using bowling machines, because they don’t train the body recognition skills that hitters need for anticipation.

  *According to analysis by hitting coach Perry Husband of all 500,000 pitches from one full MLB season, on pitches that were directly down the middle major leaguers hit .462 when the count was two balls and zero strikes, and .362 when the count was zero balls and two strikes—a 100-point difference based solely on count information that helped hitters to anticipate the next pitch.

  *Another striking result was that chess pros were twice as likely as non–chess pros to be left-handed.

  *Someone who scores 20/15 can stand at a distance of twenty feet and tell the difference between an o and a c that the typical person, with 20/20 vision, could only detect if they scooted up to fifteen feet.

 

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