Marginal Gains (unexpected small gains)

Marginal Gains (unexpected small gains)

Technology is clear way where marginal gains are trying to get that edge to enable victory.

What is less obvious is the all the other bits which can help the athlete improve. They far more subtle with some long term goals. It doesn’t help that by being human it is very personal to us, what works for one person may not work for another.  Below are a couple of examples

• Altitude training
• The right Pillow

Altitude training

Altitude, the higher up we are the less atmosphere we have. It gets thinner until there is none left and we hit space.

If we just teleported into space our lungs, like the doll, will explode. But it is possible for humans to survive and live at high altitudes like the Andean Altiplano. These communities have learnt to live in normality.

 

Yet whenever a presenter goes to do a documentary on them they often struggle (). This is because the presenter’s body hasn’t adapted to the surroundings. The key difference between the two is the number of red blood cells in their bloodstream.

The Andean Altiplano has a higher concentration of cell to compensate the reduce lack of Oxygen in the air ([1]). When the presenter comes back down to sea level they can feel elated and ecstatic.

 

This is because there higher concentration of oxygen, couple that with the higher blood cell count, means the body is receiving more oxygen and can do more.

So let’s say for numbers sake, altitude training with you improves your performance by 0.1%.

The correct pillow

This has been briefly mentioned in news reports for the British cycling team [2] and with no better reference this is my interpretation of this action.

After a good night sleep we often feel invigorated and ready to take on the world [3], ideal if you are an athlete. Generally this occurs at home in your own bed with comfortable surroundings [4]. With athletes competing all over the world at different locations, it can be hard to get the same good night’s sleep.

As it is a touch impractical to transport your house to every location, however it is possible to take your pillow.

The physiological benefit is there as it is a known by taking something comforting it helps someone to go to sleep. It certainly helps with young children on long distance strange car journeys.

The physical benefit is there as by using the same pillow your body is used to it and you are less likely to wake up with sore neck from sleeping badly [5].

By taking a pillow with you improves your performance by 0.1%.

Ok so each of these points may lead to a tiny potential increase in performance we said 0.1% for each point that is a total that is 0.2% increase in performance. Now put some numbers to this and look at the difference between 1^st and 2^nd place in the Chris Hoys winning time at the Kerin Olympics.

1^st 10.30 

2nd half a wheel behind