PERFORMANCE
ENHANCEMENT
OTHER AIDS TO PERFORMANCE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Am I able to explain how athletes
use a variety of methods to improve
performance?
STARTER
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 - ANSWERS
1. A traffic light
2. 8 pieces. Make two cuts like you normally
would then one horizontal cut from the
side of the cake.
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 EFFECTS
Can maximise PC
stores in the
muscles.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
USERS
Can put strain on the High
organs like the liver. Intensity
Can increase
athletes.
dehydration.
LEGAL
STATUS
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 EFFECTS
Increase muscle mass
and strength and may
aid in recovery of highintensity training. HGH
increases the amount
of glucose in the blood
and increase the
capability of the body
to heal.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
Similar to Anabolic
Steroids, plus:
USERS
High
intensity/sh
ort duration
Bones thicken and deform. athletes.
Internal organs to increase
dangerously in size.
Diabetes and high blood
pressure.
LEGAL
STATUS
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
GENE
EFFECTS
ACE-II Improves efficiency of mitochondria.
Normally 70% of the fuel energy given off as
heat (ACE-II diverts % heat energy into
making extra ATP)
PERFORMERS
BENEFITING
Extra ATP has been
shown to improve
aerobic endurance
IGF-1 Increase in enzyme activation for increasing Strength/power
the uptake of amino acids to increase muscle activities/performers
growth/regeneration and strength
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 EFFECTS
Increases RBC and
Hb levels.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
USERS
Put Heart under
Endurance
strain (possibly cause athletes.
blood clots and Heart
failure).
Contamination
problems.
LEGAL
STATUS
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 EFFECTS
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
USERS
Increases RBC and Put Heart under strain Endurance
(possibly cause blood athletes.
Hb levels.
clots and Heart
failure). Don’t know
how the body will
react to it. More
danger of blood clots
LEGAL
STATUS
Illegal
PLENARY