PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OTHER AIDS TO PERFORMANCE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1.Am I able to explain how athletes use a variety of methods to improve performance?

1.I stare at you, you stare at me. I have three eyes, yet can't see. Every time I blink, I give you commands. You do as you are told, with your feet and hands. What am I? 2.If you have a cake, how many pieces of cake can you form with 3 straight cuts? STARTER

1.A traffic light 2.8 pieces. Make two cuts like you normally would then one horizontal cut from the side of the cake. STARTER - ANSWERS

CREATINE SUPPLEMENTS Creatine is made up of amino acids (building blocks of protein) and can be found in some animal foods and in liver/kidneys Creatine is stored in muscles as creatine phosphate (PC) which is used to resynthesise ATP Creatine supplements can be taken as part of a performers diet to increase the performer’s PC levels and help improve the ATP/PC system’s efficiency Creatine is readily available in shops and is legal, despite showing that it can increase performance It is suggested that unless high volume intensity training is undertaken alongside creatine supplements then there may be an increase in body mass/non-lean mass which is not desirable for any activity

SUMMARY OF CREATINE POSITIVE EFFECTSNEGATIVE EFFECTSUSERSLEGAL STATUS Can maximise PC stores in the muscles. Can put strain on the organs like the liver. Can increase dehydration. High Intensity athletes. Legal

HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE (HGH) HGH is produced naturally in the pituitary gland and helps the body to grow and develop HGH can also be synthetically produced and used by athletes as a substitute or to compliment the use of anabolic steroids as it: – Stimulates bone, cartilage and muscle growth – Increases blood glucose levels – Increases lipases for the breakdown of FFA’s – Decreases overall body fat – Stimulates protein synthesis in skeletal muscle to enhance healing after musculo-skeletal injuries

HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE (HGH) HGH is produced more in youth and adolescence but still in adulthood to a lesser degree to assist in some metabolic processes HGH secretion can be increased by following a healthy lifestyle with plenty of exercise and having lots of sleep HGH abuse can lead to: – Joint pain – Arthritis – Abnormal heart/liver growth – Muscle weakness – Increased blood fats – Glucose intolerance – Diabetes – Impotence – Hypertension – It is also against the law

SUMMARY OF HORMONES POSITIVE EFFECTSNEGATIVE EFFECTSUSERSLEGAL STATUS Increase muscle mass and strength and may aid in recovery of high- intensity training. HGH increases the amount of glucose in the blood and increase the capability of the body to heal. Similar to Anabolic Steroids, plus: Bones thicken and deform. Internal organs to increase dangerously in size. Diabetes and high blood pressure. High intensity/sh ort duration athletes. Illegal

GENE DOPING Gene doping is too complex to discuss in real detail at this level There is a Human Gene Map for Performance and Health-Related Fitness Phenotypes which is updated every year. This lists the genes which, in different combinations, could hypothetically produce a so-called “genetically engineered super athlete” for different sporting disciplines like aerobic endurance or anaerobic power A company called Genetic Technologies (a biotech company based in Australia) claims to be able to identify whether a child has the genetic make-up to excel in either sprint and power sports or endurance sports

GENE DOPING Detailed knowledge of a sports person’s ‘genetic expression’ would be extremely useful for predicting their trainability and therefore the specificity of training regimes The main problem with gene doping is that athlete’s will have no control over the gene and therefore will not be able to shut down the gene production Although gene doping is banned, if genes are introduced into the tissue, e.g. into the muscle and not via a drug, it would be virtually undetectable by any current doping control technology Even with DNA testing it would not be clear if the athlete inherited it or used gene doping Below is a table of examples of genes and how performers benefit from them

GENE DOPING GENEEFFECTSPERFORMERS BENEFITING ACE-IIImproves efficiency of mitochondria. Normally 70% of the fuel energy given off as heat (ACE-II diverts % heat energy into making extra ATP) Extra ATP has been shown to improve aerobic endurance IGF-1Increase in enzyme activation for increasing the uptake of amino acids to increase muscle growth/regeneration and strength Strength/power activities/performers

BLOOD DOPING This is where a person’s total volume of red blood cells (RBC’s) is increased In order to do this it involves the removal (transfusion) and storage of blood from a performer about 4-6 weeks before an event The body then compensates for this blood loss by replenishing its RBC’s to restore its haemoglobin levels Just before the event, the blood is then reinfused into the performer, which increases the overall RBC/haemoglobin volume An increase in RBC/haemoglobin helps the transportation of O2 available to the muscles during exercise

SUMMARY OF BLOOD DOPING POSITIVE EFFECTSNEGATIVE EFFECTSUSERSLEGAL STATUS Increases RBC and Hb levels. Put Heart under strain (possibly cause blood clots and Heart failure). Contamination problems. Endurance athletes. Illegal

RECOMBINANT ERYTHROPOIETIN (RH EPO) The hormone erythropoietin (EPO) is found naturally in the body and is secreted by the kidneys A small amount is found in the blood to regulate/increase the RBC production to maintain it at basal rate Rh EPO is an artificial synthetic copy of EPO which is injected into the body and produces the same results as blood doping (the increase of production of RBC/haemoglobin levels and raises O2 transport) Testing procedures detect high levels of RBC/haemoglobin, which result in athletes being suspended from competitions

RECOMBINANT ERYTHROPOIETIN (RH EPO) Some athletes use fluids just before testing to dilute the blood. These fluids are now also on the banned list of substances Rh EPO is now being used by strength/power athletes, not just endurance athletes Some athletes have naturally high concentrations of EPO and this can cause problems when testing Therefore, athletes should be tested early on in their career’s to produce a baseline value to measure against at a later stage

SUMMARY OF EPO POSITIVE EFFECTSNEGATIVE EFFECTSUSERSLEGAL STATUS Increases RBC and Hb levels. Put Heart under strain (possibly cause blood clots and Heart failure). Don’t know how the body will react to it. More danger of blood clots Endurance athletes. Illegal

PLENARY