The 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games have shown
some truly amazing athletes. World records have been broken, which leads me to
question - are we becoming ever stronger? These athletes are pushing themselves
over the limitations of their own bodies to achieve great fitness, and are
breaking records in the process. So, how do these athletes become Olympic
medalists, world champions and record breakers? I personally think this is not
simply a matter of fitness - its training, dedication and state of mind.
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| Amazing athlete Jessica Ennis |
To firstly focus on the human body, I ask how athletes
have the ability to run, jump and swim better than any other? The simplest
answer: training. Effects of exercise include your heart getting physically
larger, bones becoming denser and the vital capacity of your breath deepening. So
let’s go one step further - what does it mean to build up muscles? When a muscle
cell is activated by a nerve cell, the interaction of contractile muscle
proteins called actin and myosin generates a force. Exercise increases the concentration
of these proteins within the muscle, allowing the muscle to exhibit greater
strength and force. By doing resistance exercises which force muscles to contract
as hard as they can, the number of contractile filaments in the muscle cells
increase, causing muscle cells to enlarge and consequently your muscles become
bigger. Also, by exercising more, the number of capillaries (blood vessels) in
muscles increases - this allows an increased supply of oxygenated blood,
helping the muscles go for longer and improving endurance.
And who is to say these athletes are beyond limits? Our
human bodies have evolved through hunter/gatherer times, but now modern
lifestyles have evolved faster than our bodies – we now live in a world where
we sit at a desk all day, sit in our cars as we drive home only to sit in front
of the TV set with our dinner. Our bodies evolved with the requirements to hunt
and gather – for example, we have evolved opposable thumbs, which were useful
for using tools required to catch our dinner. However, it is our intellect
itself which has vastly increased through time, leading to our modern lifestyle
vs. old-design bodies. So perhaps these athletes are using their bodies the way
they are intended to be, which is a view that makes me for one feel terribly
unfit!
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| Now, remember to think positive... |
But as I say, being an athlete is not as simple as
training. It is also the state of mind which plays a huge role. I was surprised
to hear of sports psychologists commenting on Olympic athletes, for example, I
heard a BBC commentary saying that Tom Daley would use his father’s memory to
spur him on in the second round. I initially thought little of this, but in
fact sports psychologists are of huge importance to some athletes, helping to
reduce stress, anxiety and improve overall performance. Olympic athletes have a
different mental state which allows them to achieve better – they have competitiveness,
dedication and passion for their sports. Have you ever heard of a gold medalist
who wasn’t overly interested in their sport and didn’t care about winning? The
mind is as important as the muscles in my opinion.
So, hopefully that’s explained and explored some of the
reasons why and how Olympians are the best of their field. I think, from a more
philosophical view, that we should use the Olympics and our athletes as
inspiration - we have united as British - community spirit is in the air, and
we see what hard work and dedication can achieve. I for one feel like going out
and doing something sporty, and although I know I will never be a serious
athlete, to have a passion for your sport is a great thing, to belong and be
part of such an activity is a privilege many more of us should enjoy.
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