The Sports Gene

Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

De: David Epstein

Narrado por: David Epstein

"In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?"

We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they? The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?

The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor’s training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research. In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle.

©2013 David Epstein (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Step by surprising step, David Epstein takes our hand, grips our mind, and leads us deeper and deeper into the fascinating jungle of sports and genetics... until we finally begin to see the miracle we've been watching in our stadiums and on our TV screens all our lives.” (Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated writer and four-time National Magazine Award winner)

Brilliantly researched and narrated.

Ever since I started competing in Track and Field, as far back as freshman year in High School, I was always fascinated with athletic performance, and what contributed to an elite athlete’s athletic performance.

This book finally cleared up that mystery. The answer - no surprise - is a combination of Nature and Nurture - one needs to have the right genetics (i.e. ‘hardware’), to be able to respond to training, but also the right ‘software’ (i.e. the training itself).

Here are a few factoids from the book that I found especially facinating:

the single best predictor of a major league hitters batting average is not reaction time but visual acuity. A study of this comparing batting averages of elite players (even as far back as Ted Williams) all had eyesight around 20/10 - some with score of 20/8 - approaching the biological limit of human sight. This allowed the players to not only see the type of pitch being thrown in the 1/16th of a second it takes to leave the pitchers hand - but gave them the ability to mentally process this information in milliseconds, based on subconsciously viewing the the ball’s trajectory, spin and pitchers’ shoulder (i.e. they had the hardware (eyesight) but the software part (thousands of hours of batting practice) imprinted these patterns on their brain.

A study of Kenyan marathon runners (some of the best distance runners in the world) found NO difference in Vo2 MAX, hemoglobin levels or other physical trains when compared to european runners. What made Kenyans so great? For any given size Kenyans evolved with very narrow leg bones, which made their legs 1-2 lbs lighter than the europeans. A study done showed that even 1/10th of 1lb lighter leg weight contributes to 8% greater running efficiency. That’s why sneaker companies strive to make lighter shoes. Kenyans have significantly more efficient running as a result. Another factor of the Kenyans is that they train at altitudes of 6,000 - 8,000 feet, which is considered ideal for adaptation to endurance. Lastly, Kenyans have a system whereby all students are required to train for endurance sports - so they have a lot more people to choose from.

What makes a great sprinter - someone with long legs relative to body height, with narrow hips, high concentration of fast-twitch muscle fibers, and a center of gravity that’s 3 cms above the navel. It just so happens that Jamaicans have evolved with this set of physiology - but they also have a structured system whereby they seek out the best of the best and have an elaborate training system when they find athletes with potential.

About 6 in 1,000 people come ‘out of the box’ with elite genes - and this blows away the 10,000 hours rule (a reference to the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell) which states that the average time it takes to become elite - is based on 10,000 of ‘deliberate practice’ - in all fields from music, sports or Chess. Not so. The original study of this had a range from 1,000 hours to 40,000 hours. The book talked about the 2007 world champion high jumper - who literally took up the sport 7 months prior to competing - and his first jump ever (taken on a dare when he was in high school - he cleared 7 feet.

The book gave many more examples and was written in a very eloquent manner.Overall - the book reinforced the point that all people benefit from training. But to be elite, you need to have the right genetic factors specific to the sport AND the right training.

Great book, distractingly read

Would you listen to The Sports Gene again? Why?

The Sports Gene is organized, scientific, and engaging. It artfully avoids the traps of racism by sticking to the facts and biology of extreme sports and related genetic studies.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately, the narrator used voices to imitate various scientists and characters from other countries that he presumed were average affected accents. This was so peculiar as to be distracting. He would have been better off to have read the book straight and spent more time on the rhythm and melody of his tone.

2 thumbs up from "not a sports fan"

I've always been active, playing sports growing up and now train a bit to keep my health in check, but I've never been one to "watch the game" on tv or look for the sports section of a newspaper. Regardless, this book was a fascinating trip from start to finish, due mostly to the fantastic storytelling, but also because of my love for science and the discoveries that it leads us to. This book was great and I highly recommend it to anyone, not just the sports fanatics, but also those who just love a great story and who can handle an enquisical look in the mirror, at us, the human race, at our deepest level.

This book was so interesting!

I'm not really a sports fan, but am an information junkie and this was right up my alley. I really enjoyed listening to it and learned a lot.

Really interesting

This book has a lot of interesting data and stories on the impacts of genetics on human performance. Kept me interested and entertained throughout.

Excellent

One of the most interesting and well researched books I’ve read in long time. Many topics I’ve thought about for decades all wrapped into some very interesting anecdotes all over the world.

Former athlete

As a former athlete in the sport of track-and-field I greatly give much respect to this book. This book has great insight for someone who is currently getting into their skill set in any particular sport but it is also be great for someone who might be an up-and-coming coach.

Fabulous book, terrible narration

Fabulous book, terrible narration. So much interesting science. Too bad the narrator felt it necessary to speak in a “woman’s” voice and use terrible foreign accents when narrating direct quotes. I found this distracting and demeaning.

Interesting subject matter.

The reader shouldn't try to imitate accents when he reads quotes. It is very annoying.

5 stars for a reason! Best non-fiction of 2013

Regardless if you interested in sports writing or not this book can be enjoyed by all lovers of non-fiction. Written in the same style of Outliers and Freakonomics David Epstein takes the listener down the road of ultra-athletes, bio-genetics, and nature vs. nurture. Im very impressed with the way he waded into the complicated waters of race and genetics in sports.
You'll be hooked and wont want it to end.
Well done David Epstein!

He also nailed the narration!