Peak Athleticism - Human Body Theme

Andi 0:01

Right off the bat, I am very skeptical of this concept.

Tanner 0:05

Yeah.

Andi 0:05

I always think it's sounds like bad internet science when you hear the phrase part of your brain.

Tanner 0:12

it's not miracle grow. It won't

Andi 0:14

makes it grow. It's not miracle grow. I like that. Okay. It sounds

Tanner 0:19

a torture chamber.

Andi 0:20

Yeah. This sounds horrible because you know what to achieve the same effect, couldn't you just build it in the mountains? Hello and welcome to, I should have known the trivia game show that can't be Trusted. Each week, one of our quiz masters will present you with four facts, a better topic, but one of those is a lie, and we are Doing Human Body theme for this month. And to kick it off, our quiz master is soups.

Sups 0:44

Hey,

Andi 0:44

Soups is going to be presenting us with four facts about the science behind high level athletes and peak athleticism and the limits of what the human body can do. But remember one of those is a lie. So join me, Andy, and her other host Tanner in figuring out which one it is.

Sups 1:04

Okay. Let's get going with R P Q. Q

Andi 1:08

P Q Q,

Tanner 1:08

All right.

Sups 1:09

All right.

Andi 1:10

The pub quiz question

Sups 1:11

yeah. Yeah. It's indirectly related to the topic. It's a very common, I think trivia question. What is the full form of Adidas?

Andi 1:21

What?

Tanner 1:22

Oh, the shoe brand?

Andi 1:24

Oh yeah.

Tanner 1:25

Huh?

Andi 1:25

I say

Tanner 1:26

Yeah, I know that the name comes from the creator, ADI Dassler. Some German guy. Yeah,

Sups 1:33

Yeah, that's it.

Tanner 1:34

And his brother started Puma. Is that the story?

Sups 1:37

Yeah. Look up the Wikipedia this morning.

Tanner 1:40

prepared myself,

Andi 1:41

You know something. I really, really don't care about

Tanner 1:43

shoe brands.

Sups 1:45

but you know, for athletes, shoes are very

Andi 1:47

I suppose I can, allow it for athletes who actually need to do something with their shoes. Okay. gimme, so I did not know that at all.

Tanner 1:56

I've heard this before. Yeah.

Sups 1:57

Yes, of course.

Andi 1:58

We, see very different internets I think, kind of stuff. I don't hear about any of this. Wow.

Sups 2:03

Okay, so let's get into the body, the feats of the body and what amazing athletes what they can do. Yes. Alright, so Fact number one. Elite athletes have an area in their brain that performs 82% faster than average under pressure.

Tanner 2:19

Wow. Changes your brain.

Andi 2:21

Right off the bat, I am very skeptical of this concept.

Tanner 2:24

Yeah.

Andi 2:25

I always think it's sounds like bad internet science when you hear the phrase part of your brain. There are specific regions of your brain that do specific things. but. Okay.

Tanner 2:37

It sounds very, very general. I'm gonna need more

Andi 2:40

general.

Sups 2:41

Okay. So let me give you, this is basically a study that was done in 2015 and this study was done by Dunlop Tires with University College, London, And they did this study where they took like five elite people So there was a motorcyclist a multiple triathlon winner, a free climber, a racing driver, and a wingsuit daredevil and Olympic gold medalist. From England and they made them go through a series of these tests they were like physical exercises where participants, they kept on working until they were like, exhausted,

Tanner 3:16

Okay.

Sups 3:17

And then they observed that they were 82% faster. Like they could process things faster than average other participants at exhaustion. Yes. So that was like the compost. So all like adventure, high octane. Sports. Yeah.

Tanner 3:32

You have to have very split second reasoning or decision making.

Sups 3:35

Decision making is,

Andi 3:36

Yeah.

Sups 3:37

So the test subjects, they were given a task that required the use of the parital cortex. Mm-hmm. That's the key part of brain that determines speed. And that's where the scientists, they found that the athletes, they have an advantage

Tanner 3:51

That's interesting the parietal lobes, I wouldn't have guessed that that was where it was, because like your judgment and planning is your prefrontal cortex, the front part of your brain. But this is on like the sides, like where headphones over your ears would

Andi 4:03

Yeah, yeah. also think it makes sense because, it's a deeper, more animal. Part of your brain is a deeper, more animal system.

Tanner 4:11

Right. It's more like reflex and instinct. Right. It doesn't have to take so long to develop like the front part of your brain. Yeah. possibly. We're trying to make sense of this potential

Sups 4:21

lie.

Andi 4:21

up thing, that's interesting. It's weird. I think it's very, very believable that athletes would have some kind of change in their brains. So like that makes perfect sense So, it's like plausible. Yeah.

Tanner 4:33

it makes sense because they're training their bodies and we might think it's just the muscle or it's just the breathing or it's this or that, but the brain has to change too. I think it definitely is connected to this though, this idea of how do you perform when you're in the fight or flight mode. Mm-hmm. That's Yeah. Way, way back.

Andi 4:53

Okay. I, yeah, so it's weird. I, I don't know. I'm always very skeptical of anything that says Part of your brain. Yeah. That's just always to me, a big red flag of like,

Tanner 5:03

mm-hmm. But it is possible we have to listen to the other three to find out.

Andi 5:06

Yeah.

Sups 5:07

Okay. So fact number two, unique bird like features make the Ingin group. Excellent. Long distance runners. Okay.

Tanner 5:14

Okay. Talking about long distance running like marathons.

Sups 5:18

Yes. So if you know anything about marathon or long distance running, you will know that there is just a specific group of people. Who just win every year, they are the Ian ethnic group. They're the third largest group in Kenya. the total population is about 6.7 million. 95% of them are in Kenya and then Uganda and Tanzania. Okay. And research has been done to understand why they're different and why they run, like the way they run. Based on these studies, a number of reasons have been suggested but one of the most important factors is likely that the collagen runners have been described to have like a birdlike appearance.

Tanner 6:01

So what is it about them that's more bird-like? Yeah,

Sups 6:04

So it includes longer okay. Shorter torsos, thinner ankles, thinner calves, and a lower body weight. so the thin limbs. Are very important in long distance running because. Reduced weight in legs means you can continue for longer, right? Exhaust yes. Requires less energy.. apart from their body type, another reason is, The environment that they grew up in, because most of them are in this great lift valley which is 7,000 feet

Tanner 6:36

above sea

Andi 6:37

level. Yeah. high up.

Sups 6:38

there is less oxygen there. Yeah. So, so they're training themselves always.

Tanner 6:43

so their muscles can work at these higher altitudes with lower oxygen. So when they run it lower altitudes with normal to us oxygen levels, they run better.

Andi 6:52

Exactly. That. Hmm. I mean this is a known thing I didn't know the exact ethnic route, but I knew that a lot of East Africans are very good at marathons. Yeah, it is a thing that they tend to be from this region, like Disproportionately. So it stands to reason that. people of this ethnic group have these genetic body features. Right. Or something about the region trains you well, exactly. Or a combination, I suppose. Right. But like, yeah. It's yeah. Nature, not nurture. Yeah. I mean, that's not impossible.

Tanner 7:22

Mm-hmm. Or the lie could be that it was totally. The region that does it. And it's not these bird-like features. It's anyone who grows up in East Africa, in specifically Kenya, Tanzania,

Andi 7:34

the Great Rift or

Tanner 7:35

Yeah. Yeah. If I grew up there, I could run a marathon. That would be the lie, I think. I really don't believe that though.

Andi 7:41

though. That's hard. It's hard. It's weird. Yeah. Trying to think of like where it could be a lie. Is

Tanner 7:46

I think the lie could be that they just train for it.

Andi 7:49

B fast. He could be playing on this. kind of, a lot of the ways that Western people will talk about Africans in general of like, they're just these tribes in the forest and they don't even realize that they're great at marathons or like, you know, but like they built different, Yeah. When it's like they live in cities and have sports complex and train just like anyone else. Yeah. So like, yeah. So maybe that's playing on that. They just have like really great teachers

Tanner 8:14

Right. I'm pretty skeptical of this one,

Andi 8:17

Hmm. You have to hear two more.

Sups 8:19

let's do fact number three. Naturally occurring Growth Hormone or Somatotropin, is responsible for enhanced alytics performance.

Tanner 8:30

Wow. So this is kind of the idea of like doping with steroids. This is saying that naturally Somatotropin make you a better

Sups 8:41

So the human growth hormone, also known as a t h this is a natural hormone that the pituitary gland makes, and this is the reason why you have growth, why children become adults, and then at some point, It stops, so

Andi 8:58

you

Sups 8:58

stop

Tanner 8:58

growing. Mm-hmm. Right.

Sups 8:59

Very simple.

Andi 9:00

Some earlier than others.

Sups 9:02

So in California, a team of researchers, they took like young people and they gave them these GH injections. and then there was a placebo group as well. The ones who got the injections, they. Increase their lean body mass and they started performing better. Mm-hmm. As compared to the other group. Yes. So athletes they're taking this in their body to keep this growth cycle continuous, So that they can compete. And this is why this is being banned. Like everyone has banneded because people have abused it so much. And they still continue to abuse it.

Andi 9:39

I think it's also like hard to test because it's a naturally occurring right. Hormone. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So like, I'm not doping, I just have this in my blood. What is

Sups 9:48

wrong? Yeah. Yeah.

Tanner 9:48

Mm-hmm.

Andi 9:49

Yeah, that sounds familiar.

Tanner 9:51

I've heard of something similar, something like that. I thought it was with blood cells or oxygen, but maybe it was H g

Andi 9:57

Yeah. I don't know. again, that's always the worst Yeah. Argument, you know, when you're playing. The game on, I should have known is to be like, well, have I heard of this before? That's always bad Reasoning, but it does sound familiar. I guess the question then is, does it actually make you better or is that just a thing athletes say? You know, like it's not scientifically supported. I would think it would be very bad for you to take it when you are done growing. But you maybe you get some short term boosts in certain things that would benefit an athlete. Mm-hmm. So like,

Tanner 10:30

it's not miracle grow. It won't

Andi 10:31

makes it grow. It's not miracle grow. I like that.

Tanner 10:34

Yeah. You are

Andi 10:35

not a plant. Yeah.

Tanner 10:36

I totally agree. I think that this could definitely have some unforeseen consequences. Just like when you take steroids right It's the same story as with taking steroids. It can negatively affect you and positively affect

Andi 10:48

you as an athlete. Right. Steroids are medicine

Tanner 10:51

Right. Yeah. So maybe it's kind of the same story and that's why it's a lie. Maybe it's the story from steroids and this H G H isn't being used by athletes.

Andi 11:00

Yeah. So, This one is the one which, first of all, it's the simplest and I can understand it the best. Yeah. And so then because of that I can figure out an area where it could be a lie. Mm-hmm. So, okay. Maybe. All right, can we hear fact number four?

Sups 11:17

Yes. So the final fact, fact number four, Nike had a training house for athletes where oxygen was removed to develop more red blood cells.

Andi 11:26

Okay. It sounds

Tanner 11:27

a torture chamber.

Andi 11:28

Yeah. This sounds horrible because you know what to achieve the same effect, couldn't you just build it in the mountains? Isn't that what we were talking about? Right. Decrease the oxygen, decrease the oxygen levels, Yeah. And achieves the same thing.

Sups 11:40

Save a lot of money. Well, you'd be glad to know that now it's dissolved. It was called the Nike, Oregon project because it was in Portland, Oregon. I started in 2001 and dissolved in 2019 Because of a ban on the coach Alberto Salazar.

Andi 11:59

So,

Sups 12:00

and the reason they developed this house was Nike's vice president was really dissatisfied with American athletes' performance in the long

Andi 12:09

distance This sounds like a movie

Tanner 12:11

Okay? Okay.

Sups 12:13

So in the suburb they created the house where filters were used to remove oxygen from the air to simulate living at high elevation.

Andi 12:21

as opposed to just putting it up in a

Tanner 12:24

Yeah,

Sups 12:25

So they also used a low gravity treadmills, which allowed athletes to run on a reduced percentage of their own body weight. In 2002. This project came under the scrutiny from the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Yeah. Because they were like, you are in a way, like altering your natural body state, which is kind of unfair for others But Alberto Salazar, his. Argument was that No, this is completely natural. It's similar to like people drinking sport drinks

Tanner 12:56

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. you

Sups 12:56

know,

Andi 12:56

it's

Sups 12:57

like the same thing,

Tanner 12:58

Okay.

Sups 12:58

Later in 2019, it was found out that he was trafficking, testosterone,

Andi 13:03

Oh, so he was straight up cheating.

Tanner 13:06

he was doping. Oh boy. So it all comes down to how can I cheat without getting caught? Just train harder people. Come on. Yeah. Where

Andi 13:15

you run? 10.

Sups 13:16

so tan.

Andi 13:17

Wow.

Tanner 13:18

so I know that you can kind of hack blood oxygen levels. You can inject erythropoietin to increase your production of red blood cells, which can carry more oxygen to your muscles to perform better. Right. That's kind of a natural cheating sort of,

Andi 13:35

Yeah.

Tanner 13:35

It kind of seems like they're trying to induce that

Andi 13:37

engaging it. Right. Yeah. But also literally, like I keep saying, you can get the same result by just. Going to the top of a mountain. I'm sorry. If you have the privilege to build a big facility like this, you have the privilege to get yourself to a mountain. Yeah. on. Yeah. Like, it's really ridiculous to me. That's why it feels almost like maybe this is fake?

Tanner 13:57

Yeah. I really like your idea of, it could be a film

Andi 14:00

It kind of sounds

Sups 14:00

like a plot

Andi 14:01

a movie. is this like how Space Jam starts because he was talking about anti-gravity treadmills. You know,

Sups 14:08

I

Andi 14:08

have seen neither Space

Sups 14:10

Jams,

Andi 14:11

Also like why is Nike doing

Tanner 14:13

this. Yeah. Come on, Nike. Build better shoes. God,

Andi 14:16

It's both believable and unbelievable.

Tanner 14:18

Yeah, It's

Andi 14:19

of those 50

Tanner 14:20

Facts I like to believe that the athletes have a better moral compass and they wouldn't have done this because I still consider it cheating How But this one is sketchy.

Andi 14:29

so we've learned a lot about stretching, the abilities of the human body and the athletes, But one of them was alive. So soups, can you please repeat the four facts for us before we take a guess on which one it is?

Sups 14:42

Yep. the four facts are fact number one, elite athletes have an area in their brain that performs 82% faster than average when under pressure. Fact number two, unique bird-like features make the ING ethnic group excellent long distance runners. Fact number three, naturally occurring growth hormone or somatotropin is responsible for enhanced athletics performance. Number four. Nike had a training house for athletes where oxygen was removed to develop more red blood cells.

Tanner 15:23

All right. One of them is a lie. Oh boy. So I think you could convince me that any of them is a lie. They sounds so, yeah. Out there

Sups 15:33

that yeah.

Tanner 15:35

I'm leaning towards either number two or number four. I think you could, have lied and said that these marathon runners are good not because of their leg structure. There's a different reason

Andi 15:47

Did he invent the leg structure thing

Tanner 15:49

Yeah, maybe. I mean, that's a tall order, but it's possible. And do you think it's the Space Jam one?

Andi 15:54

No, I think that's real. I think it's Peak America. Yeah. Yeah.

Tanner 15:59

You think Nike paid to have this place built and then this

Andi 16:01

whole happened? I mean, it sounds really ridiculous and unbelievable and that it lasted 18 years. Like Yeah, that sounds absolutely absurd, but that's the problem of America is it makes the absurd seem realistic. Yeah. That's our mo. it's a, maybe I like the idea of it being from a movie. Yeah. But I'm not gonna pick it.

Tanner 16:20

Okay.

Andi 16:21

I can see the first one being something someone would have rephrased on the internet that way. But when you described the science, it sounded pretty real. The second one does seem fishy, but my problem with it is how did soups buy?

Tanner 16:35

Okay.

Andi 16:36

I don't know. So I was thinking maybe number three.

Tanner 16:40

Okay.

Andi 16:40

Maybe it's like we said, it doesn't actually do anything. And that's the Yeah. Is that like, oh,

Tanner 16:45

H.

Andi 16:46

everything he said was true. Athletes do do this. They try to cheat. It's anti-doping is against it, but it's all for Naugh.

Tanner 16:53

Oh, it doesn't do what they say that does. Mm-hmm. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very possible.

Andi 16:57

because I see soups being able to create that. I see his thought process. Yeah.

Sups 17:00

Yeah.

Tanner 17:01

Yeah. You're putting yourself in his shoes. Yeah. His, his Adidas

Sups 17:05

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. on

Andi 17:06

what are you wearing today? New Balance, I'm putting on his new balances and mowing the lawn. No, they're, they're like nicer ones than that. Yeah. So maybe I'll of

Tanner 17:15

Okay. I'm going with number two.

Sups 17:18

And Andy, you're

Andi 17:19

number number, three. number three.

Sups 17:20

Okay. One of you is right, it's

Andi 17:23

The good news. So Space Jam Island is real,

Tanner 17:26

Yes.

Sups 17:26

but we have a double good news. when Andy decided to put on my shoes and try to run a mile, it's exactly that because Claims that growth hormone enhances physical performance are not supported by the scientific literature. Wow.

Andi 17:42

What Wow. I just know you so well,

Sups 17:46

yeah. Wow. You knew

Andi 17:48

I really, Wow. I don't even know what to say. I was like, I bullseye. I never expected to be exactly right. When I, whenever I make those really outlandish guesses that I always make, I I, it's very rare that I'm

Sups 18:00

exactly

Andi 18:00

right.

Tanner 18:01

But you just had to think out loud and work through it and then think like, how could soups have made this a

Andi 18:06

Not to me. 'cause like all these facts were like really complicated So that was my thing with it though, was like, no offense, oops, but you are not scientist. So like for some of the stuff I was like, he's either swinging for the fences or this is real. Because like I could not have come up with that. I

Tanner 18:22

I would be very Right. And I really liked how you worded it. You're like, this is the first one that I fully understand. So Yeah. But that's

Andi 18:31

how I felt about all of them. I'm like, I don't get this.

Tanner 18:35

But because you fully understood it, you could make it a lie. So you

Sups 18:38

could Mm-hmm.

Tanner 18:40

Mm-hmm. Very interesting.

Sups 18:41

I mean, moral of the story is that human body is amazing and it can do great

Tanner 18:46

Yeah.

Andi 18:46

but also I think this episode speaks not only to the greatness of the human body and its abilities, but also to human ingenuity and our ability to enhance our bodies to be even better

Tanner 18:58

than nature did. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Very cool. I should have

Andi 19:00

known. Yeah. I feel like I don't have to say it this week. I'm like the queen. I knew it. You

Tanner 19:04

it. You have

Andi 19:05

I have known. Yeah.

Sups 19:07

I do know.

Andi 19:08

know. And I will know. Thanks for listening to this episode of I should've known We are now also on YouTube, so if you are listening there, do the usual YouTube things, like, comment, subscribe, yeah. Did you figure out soup's lie, or which one did you think it was? if you're listening on a traditional podcast platform, then we would ask you please to leave us a review that can really help us out and get us in front of more eyes and ears, and we will be continuing with our human body theme. Next week I will be your quizmaster and I'm gonna be talking about the science of tattoos. So be on the look for that. And as always, thanks for listening. Tubby little turd