Clerk, assuming what Aragon says can be correct, we have to consider two facts, well acclarated :
1) EPO increases the transport of O2 capacity
2) EPO increases viscosity.
Which is the system does our body use for transporting more O2, when we increase some type of effort, requesting more oxygen for working at incremental intensity ? It's only one : to increase the velocity of circulation.
With "clean" or "doped" blood, in any case a person increases the velocity of circulation when has a request of more oxygen supply.
So, the quantity of oxygen arriving to muscle fibers depends on two factors :
1) The total capacity of transportation (if Hb is like a lorry, of course to have bigger lorries, or more lorries, can allow blood to transport more oxygen PER EVERY BLOOD CIRCULATION
2) The velocity of blood circulation (if we have less lorries, but the same are able to pass more times through the same "stations", we can supply the same quantity of oxygen to the muscle fibers).
So, it's clear that the limit between to be "useful" to the performance, or to be "useless", depends on the balance between these two elements.
I already said many times that top runners Kenyan and Ethiopian (born, living and training in high altitude) have a blood with low viscosity, and are able to run a full competition at a higher pulsatory level than athletes of sea level (and training in altitude for some time only doesn't produce the same effects)).
Till now, nobody tried to measure the TOTAL QUANTITY OF OXYGEN that athletes are able to transport per unit of time (for example, every minute).
But, if this is true when we speak about the capacity to TRANSPORT oxygen, we must also look at another phenomen : the capacity TO REMOVE THE PRODUCTS OF FATIGUE (mainly lactate, but not only).
Since EPO doesn't have any influence regarding this physiological activity, we need to think that FASTER IS THE BLOOD CIRCULATION, QUICKER THE REMOVAL CAN HAPPEN, and at the end we can remove, in the same time, more "lactate" if we have low viscosity.
This fact is confirmed by every type of investigation with top African runners, who are able to run long distances AT VERY MUCH HIGHER HR THAN OTHER ATHLETES. This means that, when for example the "official" parameters of LT are about 4 mml, and for the obsolete Aerobic Threshold (That really doesn't exist) are still considered around 2 mml (this is the level of lactate Caucasic athletes normally use for running a full Marathon, if well trained), top Kenyans can run a HM around 6 mml and a full Marathon around 3 mml, since they have the ability to remove lactate very fast from their muscles.
But to run at higher level of lactate means also to have more energy at disposal for running faster. So, the main problem, when we speak about Marathon, is that athletes can't run faster than about 2 mml, because are not able to maintain a "steady state" with a correct balance between how much lactate produce, and how much are able to remove.
Of course, if you can remove more lactate, you can run faster, and this is something due to LESS VISCOSITY, that is exactly the opposite of what happens taking EPO.
You can say these are specualations only. It's true, because at the moment there are not scientific researches with this category of athletes, in this direction.
But at the same time I tell you that are speculations also the "ideas" that, for this category of athletes, EPO can give some advantage, because FOR THIS CATEGORY there are not scientific researches, IN ANY DIRECTION.
The fact some strong athletes had good results taking EPO is not a proof, also if they improved their performances, because this improvement came after a big improvement in the quantity and the intensity of their training, so the DIRECT responsible of these improvement is TRAINING.
You can argue that taking EPO has the main effect in the possibility to train more, increasing the recovery : but also this is a consideration without any base, because there is not any evidence by brough cross-examination (in this case, what the athletes could do IF ACCEPTED TO TRAIN WITH THE SAME VOLUME AND INTENSITY WITHOUT ANY DOPING).
On the other side, I have several athletes who were able to better some WR without using anything, also legal. You can suppose these athletes could run faster using EPO, but this is a speculation without any proof, exactly like my idea that also doped athletes could reach the same (or better) results using proper training only.
Don't forget that ALL THE STUDIES carried out till now are with population NOT BELONGING TO THE VERY STRICT CLASS OF TOP RUNNERS.
If WADA wants to study the real effects of altitude and doping with top African, there is only one way : TO STUDY TOP AFRICAN DURING THEIR TRAINING IN ALTITUDE, something never happened till now.
I strongly think WADA doesn't have any idea about the effects of training.
What I have to think about the "competence, knowledge and specific preparation" of an organism which in 2013 supported economically a research made in Glasgow, for investigating the effects of EPO comparing them in Scottish and Kenyan youg athletes, when the subjects of the research were : 19 boys from Scotland with PB (average) in 3000m of 11'08" (after one month of EPO the average became 10'30", and after other 3 weeks without EPO 10'46"), and 15 Kenyan boys with PB (average) of 9'20", becoming 8'55" after ome month of EPO, and coming back to 9'02" after other 3 weeks clean ?
Only some absolutely not involved in any sport of endurance can think that there are analogies among these boys and the "class" of top athletes.
Boys running 11' in Scotland, or 9'20" in Kenya, are not athletes (no talent at all) and don't have any training. Not only, but in the research there are no data about the training of these boys : how many times per week, which type of methodology, which training plan.
SO, NO INTEREST AND CARE ABOUT TRAINING AND ITS EFFECTS.
That's the reason because I'm not confident in any "official" physiological research, including the data used for the Biological Passports, till when there is not a collection of SPECIFIC DATA FOR THESE SPECIFIC ATHLETES IN THIS SPECIFIC CONDITION.
And, if a when this research can start, I assure you that we can find very unexpected data (for sceintists of antidoping, and Letsun posters....), of course unexpected for all that people never working with top African athletes, but well known by who, like me, works with them from many, many years.
Read more:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... z3xDl1j96B. Scherzo, sfido io a trovarne uno che fa di tutto per esporre il proprio pensiero (senza sminuire quello altrui)!
