ABSTRACT
The concept of athletic training is based on the recognition that physiologic systems in the human body respond to properly dosed stresses with improvement in function. These adaptations, in turn, are expected to be translated into improvements in athletic performance. Traditional dogma holds that such training-induced advances eventually reach a “ceiling” imposed by one’s genetic endowment. Others have claimed that no such limit exists, and that performance can be augmented continuously by commitment to a regimen of “deliberate practice.” Such training involves a strong commitment over many years with focus on athlete-specific training techniques. This approach has found considerable appeal among athletes, as it implies that training improvements are under the personal control of the individual rather than being limited by a deterministic gene complement. While evidence can be provided to support both sides of this controversy, neither approach has provided a strong description of just how genes and/or training techniques might serve to determine limits of training-induced performance.
