Roscoe Lecture - Professor Greg Whyte OBE

We are delighted to present this special Roscoe Lecture in the week we co-host the British Science Festival in Liverpool.

Professor Greg Whyte OBE is an Olympian and World and European medalist. Gaining his PhD in 1997, Greg went on to become the inaugural Director of Research at The British Olympic Medical Centre (2000-2004), the Director of Science and Research at The English Institute of Sport (2004-2006), The Director of Science at The Irish Institute of Sport (2006-2008), and the Director of Human Performance at The Centre for Health and Human Performance, Harley Street, London (2008-2020). Greg is currently Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moores University. Greg has spent over three decades investigating the limits of human performance in a broad range of people from Olympic Champions to celebrities and a range of patient populations.

An ultra-endurance athlete specializing in performance in extreme environments, Greg has completed some of the toughest challenges on the planet and is well-known for his successful support of many charity endurance challenges in extreme environments. Greg is a regular media contributor on the topic of limits of human performance and has published over 350 peer review journal articles and authored several popular science books including, ‘Achieve the Impossible’ and ‘Bump it Up’, in addition to several academic texts including: ‘Practical ECG for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine’ and ‘ABC of Sports and Exercise Medicine’.

Lecture overview

Humans (genus: Homo) first evolved around 2.5 million years ago in East Africa (Ethiopia), an area we now call ‘The Cradle of Humanity’. The earliest Hominids (the family of which humans are a member – The Great Apes) were bipedal and walked upright, however it wasn’t until the emergence of Homo erectus around 1.9 million years ago that hominids grew tall, evolved long legs and became entirely terrestrial. Whilst upright walking improved efficiency of movement it was a slow form of locomotion, particularly compared with quadrupeds. From an evolutionary perspective, this lack of speed left early bipedal hominids susceptible to predation and less successful hunters. From the fossil record, it is believed that running developed around the same time as the appearance of Homo erectus (c.2 million years ago). The evolution of bipedalism, upright walking and running occurred for several reasons with the driving force for adaptation linked to survival. The ability of humans to swim is the topic of heated debate following the publication of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (AAH) in the 1960’s. It is suggested that hominids evolved aquatic or semi-aquatic (waterside) lives around 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago (the Pliocene period) which led to several adaptations that resulted in an improved swimming ability. Whilst this theory has been dismissed by many in the scientific community, Homo sapiens evolved to become the best swimmers of all hominids. Again, the evolution of swimming was based on survival.

Whilst the ability to run evolved c.2 million years ago, competitive running is only believed to have started less than 3,000 years ago as part of religious festivals (The Tailtean Games in Ireland between 1100 and 600BC). Running was officially born as a sport at the first ancient Olympic Games in 776 BC. The earliest recording of swimming in Homo sapiens dates to stone age paintings around 7,000 years ago, however, swimming as a competitive sport did not emerge until the early 1800’s. It was the advent of the Modern Olympics in 1896 and the creation of amateur sports organisations that began the recording of recognized world records. Human performance has captured the interest of a large cross-section of society which has resulted in an on-going debate regarding the limits of human performance. Human performance has continued to improve over the past century, supported by advancements in sports science and medicine, coaching science, technological advances and broadening participation, however, evidence from world records suggests humans are reaching their limits.

An area of debate which has gained interest in recent years is the sex-based difference in human performance and whether women will outperform men in the future. Despite changes in participation and our increasing understanding of sex-specific performance factors, the evidence suggests that women are unlikely to outperform men, irrespective of modality (running, swimming etc.) or distance (sprint through to ultra-endurance). An examination of the sex-based physiological differences helps explain this performance divide.

There are various factors that influence the limits of human performance but, of those factors we are unable to control, environmental factors can have a profoundly negative impact on human health and performance if approaches are not taken to ameliorate their impact. Most of the earth represents an extreme environment, defined as a place where it is difficult to survive (70% of earth is covered in water and only 15% of the earth’s surface in not covered by desert, ice or mountains). Heat, cold, height and depth are the common environments experienced by humans during athletic performance. Each environment offers unique physiological challenges that ultimately limit human performance.

Homo sapiens evolved to be habitually active and our evolution has been influenced by our environment. Changes in both stimuli are likely to affect our future evolution and survival. In the UK, 12 million adults fail to meet the WHO guidelines for physical activity for health of 150 minutes per week and half of children fail to meet the guidelines of 300 minutes per week. Furthermore, due to technological advancements, humans, particularly those in the developed countries, have become isothermic (limited change in core body and skin temperature) by limiting environmental challenge. This inactivity epidemic and cosseted lifestyle are likely to be significantly deleterious to performance, health and, ultimately, survival.