Neuro-Doping: The intersection of neuroscience and performance

I'm a science junkie.

For the past few months, my interest has been on neuroscience in particular, partly due to the fact that exercise, fatigue, and performance is increasingly being seen as an issue that needs to be looked at from a neuroscience perspective.

A few months ago I was reading a book on the brain, and was watching the excellent Morgan Freeman show Through the wormhole.  In this particular episode, they were exploring the idea of our subconscious and neurosciences explanations and contribution to it.

Thyroid madness- Everything you need to know

Thyroid disease has entered the public’s consciousness thanks to an article in the Wall Street Journal.  I debated on whether to write a blog about it or let it be.  In the end, I decided it was necessary because of the misinformation out there on the topic.  The most important thing when discussing complex issues like this, is being informed, objective, and logical.  For that reason, I’m going to try and outline everything that hypothyroid entails, from diagnosis to abuse to controversies in the medical field.

As anyone knows who has read this blog, I am staunchly anti-performance enhancing drugs.  So I get where people freak out when the word “hormone” is used, but I want people to realize that for some, it’s a medical necessity.

I’m not an endocrinologist, but I have had Hashimoto’s disease since I was about 14.  My hope is that people get a better understanding of what thyroid issues entail and then understand where the gaps in the current treatment are, and the possible places for abuse.

While much of the public has focused on mechanisms of abuse, we’re going to start with understanding what the process of diagnosing and fixing a legitimate thyroid issue entails, before addressing the other issue.

Inflammation nation- Is inflammation good or bad?

Over the past year or so, the idea of making sure not to inhibit the training effect has risen in popularity.  The old concept was that as soon as the workout was done, everything possible was done to recover for the next workout.  In practicality this made sense, as if we could recover for the next training bout, we could get more intensity and volume out of that session.  Now, the pendulum is swinging to the other side.

To me, this represents a classic case of switching back and forth between two paradigms.  We started with the old school notion of little worry over recovering after a workout to the hyper sensitive world of always consuming your Gatorade and ice baths after every run.  Now, it seems we are correcting the balance and finding some happy medium.  The way it is headed is towards a paradigm of periodizing recovery.

How did we get to this point?

A change in mind set with fresh new ideas in the coaching and research world, along with a knowledge base increase in what recovery actually does and how adaptation actually works.  Adaptation was traditionally presented as some nebulous graph copied from some obscure Russian text about super-compensating.  There is truth to this approach, but what we've come to realize is that adaptation is impacted a multiple levels beyond just the workout and how you recover from it.  The rise in knowledge of molecular adaptation, signaling pathways, and genetics has given us a peak into what happens and what is triggered the moment after our training stress is applied.

Attacking Adaption from Multiple Directions

The Multiple directions approach:

One particular thing I notice from athletes or coaches, and a trap I fell into early in my coaching career, is you start to pigeonhole workouts to develop particular qualities.  For instance, if high end aerobic endurance (or in science speak lactate threshold) needs to be developed, the answer was always go do a tempo run.  Yes, mileage and speed were manipulated a bit, but the answer to the question of threshold development was always a tempo run.I always had a few questions about this model, and my first “ah ha” moment came when I learned about the Igloi method from Santa Monica Track Club coach Joe Douglas.

The method, which I’m assuming is still used by Johnny Gray to a modified degree, to coach many of his standout 800m guys and gals, typically uses shorter intervals with shorter rests at a variety of speeds to develop endurance qualities.  In the old old days, it was even more interval work.  The point is, that they used repeat intervals at moderate paces to develop aerobically. For example, you might do sets of 200’s with 50m jog rest at an “easy” or “good” pace (in other words, not pressing but moving at a decent clip) This is in contrast to a strict Lydiard system who relied on steady longer runs.

Genetics of sport- Does Doping change genes?

Genetics of sport- Are we searching in the wrong places?

The topic of genetics of endurance sport is a fascinating one.  For as long as I’ve been a competitive runner, the question of whether nature or nurture gave rise to the pocket of dominating distance runners in East Africa has been around. 

Researcher Yannis Ptisliadis exemplifies this search.  In an article last year, he was quoted as saying that, 10 years ago he would have said that East Africans were better because of genetics, but now he’s not convinced.  His change of heart was the result of his group, and others, trying hard to find some genetic difference that some of the best Kenyans and Ethiopians had but finding only minor associations that didn’t fully explain the phenomenon.  

So, is it right to conclude that there are no or very little genetic reasons for success in elite East African runners?

My interactions with Lance Armstrong

With Lance Armstrong's confession being the major news item of the moment, I figured I'd throw my two cents in and give my perspective.  I had a short interaction with Lance when I worked with Nike.  Essentially we had to help Lance with his running form and training a little as he transitioned into triathlons.

It was an interesting experience, given how much I despised drug users, and looking back enlightening.  Why? Because it gave me a brief glimpse into why people might have chosen to bury their head in the sand instead of facing the facts presented before them.  This continual burying of heads is what kills fair sport.  It's not just the athletes, but also the media, journalist, fans, coaches, and perhaps most importantly agents and sponsors.  I'm not sure if there is an answer to the problem of doping.

But I would start with a radical departure that might include taking aim at those who control things and have power.
-Doctors- any doctor supplying an athlete be banned from working with athletes in that sport (if an athlete is caught working with him, he gets banned).  Work with US govt. to maybe make it a hit on their medical license.
-Sponsors- Right now it doesn't matter if athletes dope to sponsors. If they run well and don't get caught, great.  If they get caught, then they just distance themselves and don't take a hit.  Create penalties that if the sponsor knows, they get fined X dollars.  If a coach the sponsor pays has athletes busted, make it where there has to be an immediate termination of that coaches contract.
-Coaches- Have a rule against coaching drug users. If someone you coach tests positive, have a consequence.  If you get to 2 or 3 athletes who have tested positive, ban from coaching.
-Agents- Similar to coaches.  Have them take a hit if there athletes test positive.

Basically, create consequences for those beyond the athletes.  Just some quick thoughts.

You can read the full article on competitor.com below:


http://running.competitor.com/2013/01/news/magness-my-interactions-with-lance-armstrong_64596

Long term development: Coaching HS, college, and professional runners

I was fortunate enough to give a presentation for the Gulf Coast Scholastic Track Coaches Association Clinic this weekend.  In the talk, I focused on the keys to long term development.  I don't like giving generic talks on training, so my hope was to explore some of the differences between coaching at different developmental ages.  I use HS, college, and Pro to classify, but it's really tailoring training to their actual "training age".  I've posted the power point presentation below, and hope you enjoy it.