What makes genetically gifted runners fast?

VO2Max, hemocrit count, mitochondria levels and size.

good jeans

justcurious wrote:

so what is the common denominator that makes them all so talented?

Good question. The answer is, of course, their genetic gifts.

I appreciate your contributions, but more what I am looking for is an explanation of those genetic gifts.

Not a book obviously, just a tad more detail.

great running economy, a runner like bekele just flows, this cant be learnt

True, but Paula Radcliffe used to set world records while gallping like a horse and bobbing her head up and down in a grotesque faxhion.

LBJ wrote:

True, but Paula Radcliffe used to set world records while gallping like a horse and bobbing her head up and down in a grotesque faxhion.

Exactly... I don't understand the whole mitochondria thing... I'm clueless about physiology.

Bump... someone versed in exercise science help me out?

So many genetic factors: muscle composition by twitch type, body proportion torso length versus leg length, thigh versus calf length, muscle attachment points to the bones creating longer levers, hip/knee/ankle alignment...

justcurious wrote:

LBJ wrote:

True, but Paula Radcliffe used to set world records while gallping like a horse and bobbing her head up and down in a grotesque faxhion.

Exactly... I don't understand the whole mitochondria thing... I'm clueless about physiology.

More mitochondria and larger mitochondria means that there's greater capacity for ATP production and aerobic respiration. You can increase the quantity and size of the mitochondria in your cells through long, sustained training. Some people have more in their cells than others without training.

ciego no más wrote:

justcurious wrote:

Exactly... I don't understand the whole mitochondria thing... I'm clueless about physiology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondria

More mitochondria and larger mitochondria means that there's greater capacity for ATP production and aerobic respiration. You can increase the quantity and size of the mitochondria in your cells through long, sustained training. Some people have more in their cells than others without training.

Thank you. Further, what is it that causes injury to naturally plague some runners, but not others? Does it have to do with the skeletal system and bone density? Is it a muscle fiber issue?

The balance between stress and recovery.

i hope you're right about that...

don't we all?

Testosterone levels, hematocrit, etc. play a role. The attachment site of tendons is also important. There's no one factor that makes a good runner.

a guy who knows stuff wrote:

http://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=AMPD1

Most talented runners, and other endurance athletes, well NOT have a very common mutation on their first chromosome that is responsible for encoding an enzyme called adenosine monophosphate deaminase 1 which is important in skeletal muscle metabolism.. Just one mutation, one base pair, can cause a deficiency in the enzyme which leads to early fatigue.

This, plus many other simple genetic differences between your two hypothetical runners, can lead to huge differences in "genetic" talent.

Interesting. I've never heard of that. Have there been studies done on the frequency of this gene?

yes it has been studied and it isn't that common. about 20% of caucasians have it. furthermore it is not performance limiting in elites. go to pubmed and search for this article:

Frequency of the C34T mutation of the AMPD1 gene in world-class endurance athletes: does this mutation impair performance?

toe length. shorter toes means far more efficient.

SO the mutation has no effect on elites? strange. so, it has very little relevance to performance? or can it just be overcome through training?

i also find it curious that the mutation is almost twice as common in african-americans.