I have recently been wondering idly (heh) to what extent physical stamina or condition or both could be based on some kind of inherent combination of qualities – and if so, what they might be.
By way of inevitable backstory, my spouse (Dearly Beloved) and my first son (Eldest) can both quite literally walk or bike or ski or rollerskate or what have you all day long without ever complaining or showing any discomfort. They are both inclined to be athletic, but if they leave off training for a period of months or even (in the case of Dearly Beloved) years, this has a marked effect on their skills at particular sport but no apparent effect on their basic physical condition. Between seasons, for instance, Eldest loses some of his shooting/passing accuracy at footie, but can easily run full out up and down the field the whole game on the first day. Even if he spent the summer playing video games and watching TV.
I and my second son (Youngest) do not have this quality and have to work up to extended strenuous activity if we have taken a break. I think there must be some inherent factor or combination of them but I cannot decide what it is or might be.
Any thoughts? (Other than, damn, you lucky bastard, that’s not really fair at all, I got those covered).
I can at least guarantee that physical stamina isn’t all genetics. There’s a lot of training and work involved to build stamina, too - ask any marathon runner.
It certainly makes sense, thought, that there would be some sort of genetic component.
Probably, like almost everything, it’s a mix of the two.
Your genes (nature) determine your potential maximum, and your environment (nurture) determines the extent to which that potential will be expressed.
I could be groomed from the womb by the best basketball nurturers around and have my butt kicked by someone who spent his life attending an apple stand and was just taught the rules yesterday. OTOH you could tutor my third kid in language for ten years and I’d only need a couple weeks to catch up.
Multiple genes affect the physical abilities you use as an example.
Nova recently showed an experiment in which researchers at Tufts joined with the Nova team to see if 13 or so random people could be trained to run a (Boston) marathon in NINE MONTHS! To start, they got some baseline physiological data on their subjects, some of whom were so out of shape that one of the folks from Tufts said they were in the performance range on certain tests of cardiac rehabilitation patients. One main measure of overall condition measures our ability to extract and use oxygen from the air. (I believe it’s referred to as the VO2 measurement). One guy, however, was a busy entrepreneur who had done some running in high school or college, some ten or more years ago, and who played tennis every so often - quite occasionally, apparentlly. He was not a regular exercizer by any means, and with that history could easily be a slug, given his ability to work over the phone. None the less, this guy performed in the range of a professional hockey player. Right out of the gate. Now, this is strong evidence that we bring something to the game. Exercise certainly has its effects on conditioning - call it stamina - but it’s not the only factor. Clearly, we are born with some degree of capacity. The quibble might be over which contributes the most, or how they interact. And, of course, there’s a difference from person to person.
p.s. this was a wonderful program in many ways, including the added focus on the individuals.