Hard-earned skill: Armstrong’s (centre) heart is super-efficient

Ace cyclist Lance Armstrong’s strength, perseverance and mental focus sometimes appear too extraordinary to be believed. The record-breaking champion of Tour de France bicycle race can cover 50 kilometres in an hour of riding, while the average cyclist covers 25 kilometres. Armstrong’s heart can pump an astonishing nine gallons of blood per minute at its maximum output; the average heart can pump only five. His heart beats over 200 times in a minute which makes it a third more effective than the average man’s.

The Science of Lance Armstrong, an hour-long documentary telecast in the Discovery Channel yesterday took an in-depth look at the cyclist’s superhuman physiology and training techniques. The film profiled Armstrong’s personal and professional evolution, from cancer survivor to winner of Tour de France ? arguably, the toughest test of human endurance ? focusing on his extraordinary athleticism.

Armstrong is a favourite study subject for physiology researchers. Edward Coyle, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Texas, is one of the physiologists who has studied Armstrong for years. According to him, his extraordinary physique can be explained by a set of changes that that took place in his body, thanks to a rigorous training regime. “Clearly, this champion embodies a phenomenon of both genetic natural selection and the extreme to which the humans can adapt to endurance training performed for a decade or more,” writes Coyle in the June issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Coyle, who has studied cyclists for the past 25 years, says that these athletes need a large heart capable of pumping more oxygen and muscles that produce low levels of lactic acid ? the chemical byproduct of intense exercise in the blood.

Every year, Armstrong rode a stationary bike for Coyle’s study. While he pedalled, the physiologist measured his maximal oxygen consumption with sophisticated equipment. Coyle found that Armstrong uses oxygen extremely efficiently to generate power over 500 watts for 20 minutes and extracts an impressive 83 millilitres of oxygen per kilogram. In contrast, the average healthy 20-year-olds produce just 250 watts of power and extract a mere 45 millilitres of oxygen. In other words, we all take in the same breath, but Armstrong uses it twice efficiently.

Also, Armstrong metabolises oxygen while riding up mountains in France, and there’s no drop in the level of oxygen in his blood. When there’s less oxygen available to the lungs, his body produces more red blood cells. They boost his ability to use oxygen, supplying more of the it to the system when he needs the vital fluid most.

How does he do it? It’s not just in his genes, but a hard-earned attribute honed through years of training in the high altitude. “His ability to push human limits to the extreme, from a very young age, endowed him with exceptional abilities,” Jay T. Kearney, a sports physiologist, tells Discovery. “I went to St Moriz [mountains] for a month every year to train, and when I wasn’t in the mountains, I spent nights sleeping in an altitude tent which sucks out oxygen out of the air to simulate high altitude,” writes Armstrong in his memoir Every Second Counts. “It’s a lung-searing, and dizzying way to train your body so that it naturally boosts oxygen efficiency.”

But his capacity to use oxygen more efficiently and his unprecedented dominance in the world of cycling make tournament organisers suspicious about his achievements. Which is why Armstrong is also one of the most drug-tested athletes in sporting history.

What’s most puzzling about him is his stunning comeback in the cycling circuit after his miraculous recovery from testicular cancer. In 1996 he was diagnosed with advanced cancer which had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. He had an operation on the brain and had to undergo chemotherapy in abdomen and lungs. “His extraordinary physiology helped him cope the therapy better than the average person,” Armstrong’s oncologist Craig Nichols tells Discovery. Not only did he recover dramatically in just 18 months, but he also rebuilt his body, giving more attention to his physiology. “My ability to suffer a lot of pain and suffering helped me a lot,” says Armstrong.