Now
in the News: The Olympics
James H. Johnson, Smith College professor of exercise and
sport studies, and director of the human performance lab,
specializes in exercise physiology, kinesiology and biomechanics.
View a video of Johnson on the
Olympics.
Johnson on training for the Olympics:
“Athletes train
to peak for specific competitions. Obviously, all athletes
attempt to perform at their peak during Olympic competition.
The typical procedure for peaking is to reduce the volume
of training while maintaining intensity. That is, athletes
will train at high speeds similar to race pace, but will
reduce the total amount of time training. Tapering is the
word generally used in the swim world for this method of
peaking. Athletes who perform in multiple events have more
difficulty maintaining peak condition since their competitions
are spread over many days. They have to stay in peak form
by continuing to train but not to over train.”
Johnson on swimmer Michael Phelps:
“Few athletes ever
compete in as many events as a swimmer such as Michael
Phelps will encounter. Careful monitoring of his fatigue,
training, diet, and recovery will be taking place. Regarding
diet, stored carbohydrate in the form of muscle glycogen
is the predominant fuel for athletes in most swimming events.
Since muscle glycogen is  limited and not mobile, replenishment
with carbohydrate fuel promptly after practice will take
place.
"Swimming is an interesting
sport with regard to maturation. It is unusual, but not
unheard of, to see a champion teenage swimmer. One reason
is that swimming is not a natural activity; we do not live
in the water. Top-level swimmers have fabulous “feel” for
the water. Over the years they have developed the perfect
hand and body position to allow them to travel the greatest
distance with each stroke. This takes years to develop and
one reason why maturation results in better performance.
They have also proved they can stand the test of training,
the amount of time that a swimmer needs to put in the water
to establish form. Add to this the ability to withstand the
psychological stress of international competition. Maturity
helps.”
Is Phelps the greatest Olympic athlete of all time?
"There's no question that Phelps
is one of the greatest of all time but he has an advantage
that none of the network commentators have pointed out: Phelps
has the benefit of being a swimmer. In swimming there are
four strokes, as opposed to only one stroke in running, for
example. Therefore, it is impossible for a runner to receive
as many gold medals as Phelps, regardless of how good they
are.
"Furthermore, from an exercise
physiology point of view, the swimming world has a great
advantage in this regard because there are so many races
that last between about 1:45 and 4 minutes. Phelps is a great
athlete from 2-4 minutes. You'll notice that he does not
swim the open 100 or any other races. To compare this with
track and field, we have the 800 meters, which last about
1:45, and the 1500 meters, somewhat similar to the 400-meter
free style swimming event. That's it, only two events for
runners between 2 and 4 minutes. There is no 4 x 800-meter
relay in track and no 4 x 1600-meter relay.
"Phelps is certainly the most
decorated Olympic athlete, since this can be computed by
adding up the medals. But the greatest athlete of all time
is questionable, and probably not answerable."
Read Johnson's recent
article from the April 2008 edition of Strength
and Conditioning
Journal.
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