The Sports Gene
Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
By: David Epstein
Narrated by: David Epstein
Categories: Science & Engineering, Science
Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Narrated by: Will Damron
David Epstein examined the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters, and scientists. He discovered that in most fields - especially those that are complex and unpredictable - generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They're also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can't see.
If you're highly curious, read this
By anon. on 06-07-19
Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
By: Alex Hutchinson, Malcolm Gladwell - foreword
Narrated by: Robert G. Slade
Writing from both the cutting edge of scientific discovery and the front-lines of elite athletic performance, National Magazine Award-winning science journalist Alex Hutchinson presents a revolutionary account of the dynamic and controversial new science of endurance.
finishing this was an act of endurance
By slowLoris on 03-21-18
By: Alex Hutchinson, and others
The New Science of Athletic Performance that Is Revolutionizing Sports
By: Dr. Marc Bubbs
Narrated by: Dr. Marc Bubbs
There is a new revolution happening in sports as more and more athletes are basing their success on this game-changing combination: health, nutrition, training, recovery, and mindset. Unfortunately, the evidence-based techniques that the expert PhDs, academic institutions, and professional performance staffs follow can be in stark contrast to what many athletes actually practice. When combined with the noise of social media, old-school traditions, and bro-science, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Please get a professional narrator....
By Reading Thusly on 07-25-19
Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success
By: Brad Stulberg, Steve Magness
Narrated by: Christopher Lane
The first book of its kind, Peak Performance combines the inspiring stories of top performers across a range of capabilities - from athletic, to intellectual, to artistic - with the latest scientific insights into the cognitive and neurochemical factors that drive performance in all domains. In doing so, Peak Performance uncovers new linkages that hold promise as performance enhancers but have been overlooked in our traditionally-siloed ways of thinking.
Good, but
By Luke on 06-09-18
By: Brad Stulberg, and others
The Secret Lives of the Brain
By: David Eagleman
Narrated by: David Eagleman
In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries. Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.
Interesting Take....
By Douglas on 10-30-13
The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
By: Robert Sapolsky
Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
From the celebrated neurobiologist and primatologist, a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior, both good and bad, and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: He starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy.
By Doug Hay on 07-27-17
Faster, Higher, Stronger
How Sports Science Is Creating a New Generation of Superathletes - and What We Can Learn from Them
By: Mark McClusky
Narrated by: Mark McClusky
In Faster, Higher, Stronger, veteran journalist Mark McClusky brings listeners behind the scenes with a new generation of athletes, coaches, and scientists whose accomplishments are changing our understanding of human physical achievement and completely redefining the limits of the human body.
Similar to the sports Gene
By Joseph Bredahl on 10-21-15
The Drunkard's Walk
How Randomness Rules Our Lives
By: Leonard Mlodinow
In this irreverent and illuminating audiobook, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, chance, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.
Interested in statistics? This is the book.
By Robert on 02-21-14
Training Essentials for Ultrarunning: Second Edition
By: Jason Koop, Jim Rutberg, Corrine Malcolm
Narrated by: Jason Koop
When elite and everyday ultrarunners alike want to improve their ultramarathon performance, they turn to Coach Jason Koop for guidance and council. Training Essentials for Ultrarunning takes Coach Koop's time-proven and evidenced-based methodologies that have been honed over 20 years of professional coaching and delivers it to the masses. Regardless of whether you are first-time ultrarunner, a seasoned veteran, or an ultrarunning coach, this resource is a must-have for all ultrarunners.
Great Foundation
By Josh Conviser on 12-28-21
By: Jason Koop, and others
The Moral Animal
Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
By: Robert Wright
Narrated by: Greg Thornton
Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics - as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.
Ridiculously Insightful
By Liron on 10-25-10
What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars
By: Jim Paul, Brendan Moynihan, Jack Schwager - foreword
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
Jim Paul's meteoric rise took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet he lost it all - his fortune, his reputation, and his job - in one fatal attack of excessive economic hubris. In this honest, frank analysis, Paul and Brendan Moynihan revisit the events that led to Paul's disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in several economic sectors.
Compendium of old-school (non-quant) trader lore
By Philo on 06-10-15
By: Jim Paul, and others
Salt Sugar Fat
How the Food Giants Hooked Us
By: Michael Moss
Narrated by: Scott Brick
From a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times comes the explosive story of the rise of the processed food industry and its link to the emerging obesity epidemic. Michael Moss reveals how companies use salt, sugar, and fat to addict us and, more important, how we can fight back.
Shocked to be so shocked
By Syd Young on 03-09-14
The Impact of the Highly Improbable
By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Narrated by: David Chandler
Maverick thinker Nassim Nicholas Taleb had an illustrious career on Wall Street before turning his focus to his black swan theory. Not all swans are white, and not all events, no matter what the experts think, are predictable. Taleb shows that black swans, like 9/11, cannot be foreseen and have an immeasurable impact on the world.
Worth it in the end...I think.
By Judd Bagley on 05-27-09
The Magic of Reality
How We Know What's Really True
By: Richard Dawkins
Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
Richard Dawkins, the world's most famous evolutionary biologist, presents a gorgeously lucid, science book examining some of the nature's most fundamental questions both from a mythical and scientific perspective. Science is our most precise and powerful tool for making sense of the world. Before we developed the scientific method, we created rich mythologies to explain the unknown. The pressing questions that primitive men and women asked are the same ones we ask as children. Who was the first person? What is the sun? Why is there night and day?
Audio version is superb for us grown-ups
By Michael Dowd on 10-10-11
Brief Answers to the Big Questions
By: Stephen Hawking, Eddie Redmayne - foreword
Narrated by: Garrick Hagon, Lucy Hawking, Ben Whishaw
Stephen Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe's greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet - including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence - he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us. Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history.
A wonderful, wonderful listening experience
By La Traviata on 10-16-18
By: Stephen Hawking, and others
Enlightenment Now
The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
By: Steven Pinker
Narrated by: Arthur Morey
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
Good information but a ponderous dissertation
By JDC on 08-28-18
The Performance Cortex
How Neuroscience Is Redefining Athletic Genius
By: Zach Schonbrun
Narrated by: Thomas Vincent Kelly
Why couldn't Michael Jordan, master athlete that he was, hit a baseball? Why can't modern robotics come close to replicating the dexterity of a five-year-old? Why do good quarterbacks always seem to know where their receivers are?In this deeply researched book, sports and business reporter Zach Schonbrun explores what actually drives human movement and its spectacular potential. The groundbreaking work of two neuroscientists in Major League Baseball is only the beginning.
By Craig Hayes on 07-26-21
By: Yuval Noah Harari
Narrated by: Derek Perkins
Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today's most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.
Good stuff, but mostly repeats
"In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?"
We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they? The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor's training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research. In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle.
©2013 David Epstein (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC
Anatomy & Physiology Genetics Coaching
"Step by surprising step, David Epstein takes our hand, grips our mind, and leads us deeper and deeper into the fascinating jungle of sports and genetics... until we finally begin to see the miracle we've been watching in our stadiums and on our TV screens all our lives." (Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated writer and four-time National Magazine Award winner)
Revver the Speedway Squirrel: The Big Race Home
Revver the Speedway Squirrel
What listeners say about The Sports Gene
Epstein writes! He scores!
When I joined the Army at 17, I only finished my first two mile run because two burly male trainees in my company literally dragged me the last half mile. 18 months later, I was a member of the women's cross country team at an army school that competed in the Garden State Athletic Conference. My endurance was phenomenal, and thanks to a very small team, I earned points for our team at meets. I was so far at the back of the pack, the only advice the coach ever gave me was to wear a better bra. I would have followed his advice, but athletic bras weren't even made at the time.
David Epstein's "The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance" (2013) gave me an explanation both for why the training was so effective for me (I am a quick responder); why I had and still have endurance; and why - although I cut my two mile time by 32% - the only time I would ever see my astounding teammate (who is still a top ranked Ultra Runner) during a race was at the starting line, where she quickly disappeared from sight.
Epstein's discussion of the geographic origins and genetic factors that make the right body for a sport is not only understandable, it's fascinating. Epstein adroitly addresses the subject of race and sports performance, a topic most scientists and sociologists avoid because they are afraid of being accused of racial prejudice. He discusses the origins of man,and how migrations of Africa affected the genes and gene mutations that occurred in those populations. Epstein raises, in some detail, the genetic differences between athletes of recent African origin, especially Jamaicans (sprinters) the Kalenjins of Kenya (distance and marathon runners). The discussion of the difference between the congenital traits that give male and female athletes advantages and disadvantages in athletic competition.
Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour theory (Outliers: The Story of Success, 2008) argues that practice is the key to athletic success. Epstein points out the statistical flaw in the argument that extraordinary performers need 10,000 hours of practice to be great: the studies Gladwell relied on studies were based on individuals who were already successful, in varying degrees, in athletics - not us average Janes. I could practice basketball 10,000 hours, and I'd be much a much better player - but I would still be 5'5". I probably would have fun in a rec league and there would be lots of health benefits, but no amount of practice would ever make me a world class point guard.
"The Sports Gene" raises many, many questions. There is the effect of geographic location of birth and training, such as altitude. Culture can make a difference: children who run miles to school every day have an advantage over children who are driven. Endemic disease, like malaria, means there are more people with sickle cell trait, which protects against malaria - and makes someone with more fast twitch muscle. Strong sports programs in schools and early identification of talent make a huge difference. Epstein uses the example of an athlete in Sudan, who, no matter how good she is, has almost no chance of competing internationally because of the country's war.
Importantly, genetic differences mean what training and practice works for some athletes may make other athletes worse - or, in some cases, kill them. "The Sports Gene" discusses sudden deaths in sports, which, alarming news stories aside, largely isn't unexplained. There have been 10 sudden deaths of Division I college football players since 1974 caused by sickle cell trait. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is another leading cause of sudden athlete death. There are tests for both. Modified training can prevent the former, and an implanted defibrillator can prevent the latter.
The questions Epstein raises can't be answered yet: DNA sequencing names the gene sequences, but It doesn't tell us what the genes do, or what happens if the genes are in the wrong order. Scientists are finding that out, but we are just starting the exploration of an enormously complex gene world.
Epstein's answer isn't that genes are everything; or practice is everything. It's a combination, sometimes one much more than the other, plus opportunity.
As much as I love this book (if only to imagine a whole generation of students suddenly interested in genetics and statistics because this book makes the sciences real, and not an obscure discussion about breeding sweet peas) the narrator annoyed me to no end. No accent is better than really bad accents.
Finally, I desperately wish Audible had a true table of contents. I couldn't find one on line, so here it is from a relisten to the start of each chapter: Introduction (Audible 1-1) Ch 1 - Beat by an Underhand Girl: The Gene-free Model of Expertise (1-2); Ch 2 - A Tale of Two High Jumpers, or 10,000 Hours , Plus or Minus 10,000 Hours (1-3); Ch 3 - Major League Vision and the Greatest Child Athlete Sample Ever. The Hardware and Software Paradigm (1-4); Ch 4 - Why Men Have Nipples (1-5); Ch 5 -The Talent of Trainability (1-6); Ch 6 - Super Baby, Bully Whyippets, and the Trainability of Muscle (1-7); Ch 7 - The Big Bang of Body Types (1-8); Ch 8 - The Vitruvian NBA Player; Ch 9 - We're All Black. Sort of. Race and Genetic Diversity (2-2); Ch 10 - The Warrior-Slave Theory of Jamaican Sprinting (2-3); Ch 11 - Malaria and Muscle Fiber (2-4); Ch 12 - Can Every Kalenjin Run? (2-5); Ch 13 - The World's GreatestAccidental Altitudinous Talent Sieve (2-6); Ch 14 - Sled Dogs, Ultra Runners, and the Couch Potato Genes (2-7); Ch 15 - The Heartbreak Gene: Death, Injury and Pain on the Field (2-8); Ch 16 - The Gold Medal Mutation (2-9); Epilogue: The Perfect Athlete (2-10).
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Brilliantly researched and narrated.
Ever since I started competing in Track and Field, as far back as freshman year in High School, I was always fascinated with athletic performance, and what contributed to an elite athlete's athletic performance.
This book finally cleared up that mystery. The answer - no surprise - is a combination of Nature and Nurture - one needs to have the right genetics (i.e. 'hardware'), to be able to respond to training, but also the right 'software' (i.e. the training itself).
Here are a few factoids from the book that I found especially facinating:
the single best predictor of a major league hitters batting average is not reaction time but visual acuity. A study of this comparing batting averages of elite players (even as far back as Ted Williams) all had eyesight around 20/10 - some with score of 20/8 - approaching the biological limit of human sight. This allowed the players to not only see the type of pitch being thrown in the 1/16th of a second it takes to leave the pitchers hand - but gave them the ability to mentally process this information in milliseconds, based on subconsciously viewing the the ball's trajectory, spin and pitchers' shoulder (i.e. they had the hardware (eyesight) but the software part (thousands of hours of batting practice) imprinted these patterns on their brain.
A study of Kenyan marathon runners (some of the best distance runners in the world) found NO difference in Vo2 MAX, hemoglobin levels or other physical trains when compared to european runners. What made Kenyans so great? For any given size Kenyans evolved with very narrow leg bones, which made their legs 1-2 lbs lighter than the europeans. A study done showed that even 1/10th of 1lb lighter leg weight contributes to 8% greater running efficiency. That's why sneaker companies strive to make lighter shoes. Kenyans have significantly more efficient running as a result. Another factor of the Kenyans is that they train at altitudes of 6,000 - 8,000 feet, which is considered ideal for adaptation to endurance. Lastly, Kenyans have a system whereby all students are required to train for endurance sports - so they have a lot more people to choose from.
What makes a great sprinter - someone with long legs relative to body height, with narrow hips, high concentration of fast-twitch muscle fibers, and a center of gravity that's 3 cms above the navel. It just so happens that Jamaicans have evolved with this set of physiology - but they also have a structured system whereby they seek out the best of the best and have an elaborate training system when they find athletes with potential.
About 6 in 1,000 people come 'out of the box' with elite genes - and this blows away the 10,000 hours rule (a reference to the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell) which states that the average time it takes to become elite - is based on 10,000 of 'deliberate practice' - in all fields from music, sports or Chess. Not so. The original study of this had a range from 1,000 hours to 40,000 hours. The book talked about the 2007 world champion high jumper - who literally took up the sport 7 months prior to competing - and his first jump ever (taken on a dare when he was in high school - he cleared 7 feet.
The book gave many more examples and was written in a very eloquent manner.Overall - the book reinforced the point that all people benefit from training. But to be elite, you need to have the right genetic factors specific to the sport AND the right training.
pap389
If lawyers shouldn't be their own clients, then authors shouldn't be their own narrators
Let's get the obvious over with first: the narration was painful. The accents were particularly bad and completely unnecessary. Going beyond that, the information was insightful, well presented and thoroughly researched, although not earth-shattering. Nice book for anyone who wants to delve into the age-old nature vs. nurture discussion.
Horrible narration
The narrator tried to speak in affected accents to reflect the nationality of the person being quoted. Not only did he do a HORRIBLE job it could be construed as prejudiced. I think the book is likely good but it was so hard to get past the awful narration.
SoCal frequent buyer
Worst narrator ever
What disappointed you about The Sports Gene?
This might be a good book but I will never know: I had to stop a few hours in. The narrator - the author himself - was incredibly annoying. It's all good until he starts quoting other people and is trying to imitate their accents. Even if the person he is imitating has the accent in real life, one will never know if they are not celebrities. Without that background it just sounds like he is mocking the people. And he is not good at all at imitating accents: Having the same nationality and first language as one of the people he quotes and knowing countless people here in the US that have the same background, some with almost no accent, some with very strong accents, I have never heard anybody from there speak with the accent he tries to imitate. It is very distracting and sounds like he is making fun of the people he quotes. Not funny and not cool.
Would you be willing to try another book from David Epstein? Why or why not?
If he is not narrating it, sure.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of David Epstein?
Anybody who is not trying to imitate accents poorly.
Very informative and well researched
Would you listen to The Sports Gene again? Why?
Yes, this book is packed with so much interesting information I feel like I need to listen again and take notes.
Would you recommend The Sports Gene to your friends? Why or why not?
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about sports and elite athletes.
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
The narration was very appropriate and well done. However, I was a little distracted and turned off when the narrator tried to match the accents of the many individuals that were interviewed.
No, it was not. Sometimes I needed to stop listening to process the information that was being given. This isn't a Dan Brown or Vince Flynn page turner.
Thoroughly researched and fascinating
What made the experience of listening to The Sports Gene the most enjoyable?
Epstein does a spectacular job reviewing the nature vs. nuture debate in athletic performance with an unbiased, critical eye. He covers the breadth of the current research, tells engaging stories about the athletes and scientists behind the statistics and breakthroughs, and paints a dynamic picture of the role genetics play in producing elite athletes, including the many shades of grey inherent in scientific research findings. I especially appreciated that he didn''t shy away from the question of race. I believe Epstein's review is the first thorough explanation of what we currently know about racial/ethnic differences in athletic performance. Worth reading purely for those chapters, if you ask me.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I loved the descriptions of all the scientists the author interviewed and visited in this book.
Have you listened to any of David Epstein's other performances before? How does this one compare?
I haven't listened to any of his previous books, but his performance was really fantastic. He approximated the accents and voices of the characters quite well.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
I would love to see this made into a documentary, but I'm not sure there is a better tag line than Inside The Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
Required reading for coaches and trainers!
Repetitive And make a lot of very little information
This is a really good idea for a book. If it was written by a scientist interested in sports, as opposed to a sports reporter interested in science, this would've been a good read.
Overall pretty boring
When I saw the title I was interested so I got it but it reads like a science research paper and it doesn't end (over ten hours). There were some interesting studies and people showcased but some of the conclusions he comes to are simply not knowable at this point in science. He ends up basically saying that it's 50/50 nature vs nurture.
I had a hard time finishing it but maybe others will enjoy it.
Nature vs Nurture in athletic performance
Epstein put a fantastic amount of research into this. It seems like he goes over most of the major research in genes versus training for athletic performance. Plenty of major studies on genetics, plenty of studies on responsiveness to training. He manages to combine it all into useful sub-topics with an interesting narrative throughout. If you have any interest in athletic performance and what aspects are genetically influenced you will enjoy this book. Don't, however, look for too many answers for individuals or for your personal training. It is a great companion while you are out there training though.
Yannis Pitsiladis is a Greek researcher now based in the UK. He studies both athletic genetics as well as obesity genes to pay the bills. He had some of the most amusing/sarcastic things to say and seemed to have an overall reasonable attitude as well as being doggedly devoted to his work.
What about David Epstein's performance did you like?
I didn't actually realize this was the author until writing this review. He speaks very well. I thought perhaps it was someone who is used to giving speeches rather than narrating books. He gives his characters accents. They aren't the best, but I was wondering when I was listening how he'd possibly know some particular American had a particular accent. Only now I realize he met all these people and can probably remember what they sounded like.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Near the end he discusses a tragic event of someone he ran with in high school. That part was a tearjerker.
Be ready to start peppering all your friends with all the interesting facts and anecdotes you will pick up listening to this. Also be ready to have a new perspective on some of the athletic and health events you might be exposed to in the news. It does a really good job at being fairly comprehensive, while being open-minded, and while carrying through a compelling narrative along with fascinating anecdotes and stories from individuals that will reflect the research he just talked about. It's definitely not dry, you don't need any special knowledge of genetics or even of athletic competition to get something out of it, just an interest.