In a book packed with fascinating anecdotes, its hard to pick out highlights from David EpsteinsThe Sports Gene.

However, pushed to do exactly that, this writer cannot overlook the story of Superbaby. Sometime around the year 2000, a baby was born in a Berlin hospital, but not any normal baby. Doctors noticed the childs bulging biceps, his chiseled calves and glutes that [y]ou could bounce nickel off.

By the tender age of four Superbaby had no trouble holding 6.6-pound [3kg] dumbbells suspended horizontally at arms length. The boy looked normal with his clothes on but underneath, his muscles were roughly double the size of similarly aged male children.

Epstein continues to explain how a lack of the protein myostatin part of the GDF-8 gene can result in this remarkable genetic abnormality, before delving into similar examples in mice and whippets. The chapter concludes by suggesting some of the lessons we can take from the science, a trait throughout the book.

Epstein is a Columbia University graduate who has become universally-regarded for his investigative reporting for Sports Illustrated in the US. He co-authored the revelation that Alex Rodriguez, the baseball star, had tested positive for steroids in 2003, the same year he was named the American Leagues Most Valuable Player award.

The byline ofThe Sports Gene reads, Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance. Its very self-explanatory, with Epstein drawing together mountains of scientific research into sporting achievement to reveal the physical, genetic traits that certain athletes possess.

The joy of this book is its balance; Epstein continually acknowledges that practice can be vital in producing world-class performers, even if it is on occasion unnecessary. Many commentators see The Sports Gene as a response to the so-called 10,000-hour rule, which burst into the mainstream after Malcolm Gladwell provided an incomplete overview of it in his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success.

Gladwell is seen as one of the main drivers of a widely accepted, but highly debatable, notion that talent doesnt matter, 10,000 hours of deliberate practice will make anyone an expert in anything they desire to do. While there are certainly positives in people believing that, it doesnt tell the whole story.

Thats where Epsteins work comes in, providing us with thrillingly readable scientific fact about what physically makes the best sporting performers. However, he balances that utterly with the repeated statement that training is important too, although not necessarily 10,000 hours of it.

Epsteins own fascination with the subject matter is infectious, making The Sports Gene such a pleasure to read. The former 800 metres runner believes that the study of genetics can help us to improve selection of athletes for particular sports. A persons body shape may mean that they can never be sprinter, but those same physical elements might mean they have potential in swimming, for example.

Read more here:
‘The Sports Gene’ should be top of your post-Christmas book list

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