Renato Canova wrote:
Drug addicted, I arrived two days ago from Doha, where I had to stay for one week after the Asian Games.
I never said that top athletes don't use doping. I said that WITH ALL THE BEST AFRICAN ATHLETES THIS DOPING CANNOT WORK : this is a different thing.
One of the marks that makes the difference between very good athletes and TOP CHAMPIONS is the fact that ALL THE BEST AFRICAN RUNNERS can enhance, after 3-4 months of Aerobic Training at high level, their global volume of blood of 20-25%. This means that they can run WITH ONE LITER OF BLOOD MORE IN THEIR CIRCULATORY SYSTEM, increasing in absolute natural way their ability in transporting Oxygen.
Hematocrit is the product of the number of erythrocytes per the globular volume. While the globular volume of caucasic athletes (normally European and American) is usually between 85 and 90, the same for African top runners living in altitude is between 105 and 110.
This fact means that, inside the cell, THE SERUM PERCENTAGE IS VERY MUCH HIGHER. Due to this fact, the PERIFERAL RESISTANCE (bigger if the VISCOSITY becomes very high) is very little, and their blood is more fluid.
This means that top African runners can reach a level of heartbeats higher than who doesn't have this characteristic (for example, 220 per min. after 300m uphill run at max speed, at 2300m of altitude, while the best athletes born and living at sea level NEVER can reach, in the same conditions, 200 beats).
For all these situations, with these type of athletes the blood doping CANNOT WORK. Don't forget that, if you take EPO or something similar, THE FIRST EFFECT IS THAT THE BLOOD INCREASES ITS VISCOSITY.
This is the big difference between top African and the best from other Countries.
I had African runners able to improve in short time in unbelievable way, and I had other African not able to improve too much, using the same type of training.
For example, if I have 3 athletes running 10000m with little training (and not continuity) in 29', in 4 months of tough training (following a scientific Aerobic Plan), I have one moving to 28'30", one to 27'45" and one to 27'. And still, they had the same plan !
The difference in their performance is connected with the difference of TALENT, and we speak about the type of talent that is not possible to investigate, because is something that you have or you don't have in your body. It depends, for example, on the elasticity of the Circulatory System : if your tissues are not elastic, where do you put one liter more of blood ?
In this case (therefore, WHEN THE ATHLETE DOESN'T HAVE THE PHYSIOLOGICAL QUALITIES OF A TOP CHAMPION), doping can work.
So, my position is very simple : WHEN WE SPEAK ABOUT THE TOP TALENTS IN MIDDLE AND LONG DISTANCES, THE BLOOD DOPING DOESN'T WORK. When we speak about good athletes born at sea level, BLOOD DOPING CAN GIVE ADVANTAGES.
We know, working at top level in the Athletic World, that there are Countries having a "Doping Mentality" that is fruit of a "Pharmacological idea" of the way of living.
Don't forget that the 3rd business in the World is the business of PHARMACS. In every advanced Country (US, Europe, Oceania) there are a lot of spots pushing normal people to use every type of support : vitamins, nutritional supplements, tablets for increasing your health and every type of personal power, salts, etc...
The result is that NORMAL PEOPLE THINK THAT, WITHOUT TAKING SOMETHING FOR SUPPORTING THEM, they cant be able to have any type of success in their life, and they cant have a good health.
My position is exactly the opposite.
I AM AGAINST THE IDEA OF EVERY SUPPORT, also for the top athletes : NOT DOPING, BUT VERY BASIC SUPPORT.
My athletes don't take vitamins, supplements, tablets and, if are sick, ARE NOT ATHLETES AT THE MOMENT.
A SICK ATHLETE DOESN'T EXIST. THERE IS A SICK PERSON, that has to work for reovering the full health ; AFTER THERE IS A PERSON IN GOOD HEALTH, THAT CAN START TO WORK FOR BECOMING AN ATHLETE.
You can believe in what I say or not, this is your problem, not my problem. But I think to have results more important working on the BRAIN of the athletes, making in their mind easy what before was difficult (if not impossible), that giving some support. I think that 50% of a top performance (having the same level of training) is produced by the level of SELF CONFIDENCE, and this level is very much higher when the athlete is confident in his own strength and his own qualities. I try to teach to my athletes that they have to see till where can arrive using their qualities only : this is still the maximal motivation in every person, accepting rules and wishing to explore himself.
Don't forget that Athletics, different from other sports, has one exclusive stimulus : THE PERSONAL MEASURABLENESS.
So, also for top Champions, THE REAL MOTIVATION IS TO IMPROVE THEMSELVES. Of course, when they are able to reach the top level, they go to compete WITH other strong athletes (NOT AGAINST), having better stimula for confirming their progresses.