Is there a genetically determined limit to athletic performance?
Former Member
In his autobiographical book The Naturalist, E. O. Wilson suggests that there is a genetically determined limit to an individual's athletic performance which cannot be overcome regardless of the amount of training. Using himself as an example, he describes how he became a serious runner several years after graduating college. The gap between his times and those of the top runners in his age group (expressed as a percentage) remained what it was in college.
I looked at my current times (three years after joining USMS) and found that I am 12% behind in the 1000 and 15% behind in the 500. These percentages are exactly the same as they were in 1978, the last year I swam in college. I know there are exceptions within the ranks of USMS, but I wonder how valid this "rule" really is.
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by rtodd
I'm not ready to buy into the genetic limitation thing and won't let my kids buy into it either.
I think many people are unwilling to buy into it. The fact of the matter is, we don't know what our limits are unless we test tham. I just encourage my kids to try to achieve their full potential, whatever that may be.
The percentages I included in my post could be used to set goals (as an alternative to just looking at times).
Originally posted by rtodd
I'm not ready to buy into the genetic limitation thing and won't let my kids buy into it either.
I think many people are unwilling to buy into it. The fact of the matter is, we don't know what our limits are unless we test tham. I just encourage my kids to try to achieve their full potential, whatever that may be.
The percentages I included in my post could be used to set goals (as an alternative to just looking at times).
