The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
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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.