There is a lot of chatter around the sports science world right now about Testosterone levels in Women athletes. Here are the claims: 1) Should baseline Testosterone levels be set for both men and women in sport. 2) Should women who have naturally higher baseline Testosterone levels (subjective inference), be allowed to compete agains women who do not.
The science and sport world are always trying to put the right block into the right holes to even out the playing field.. and that is cool. WE as a society like to see good matchups and we LOVE to mock and accuse those super athletes for cheating. Simple. Well let's tackle this first problem and that is setting levels of testosterone for both sexes as a standard. My opinion, fuck no. These scientists need to get out of the lab and onto the field. We have weight classes in wrestling, we have height disparity in Basketball (kinda). Sport is sport. For thousands of years athletes have taken the field or mats or courts in their respective sports and the best have always risen to the top. Hell, the Reebok CrossFit Games is predicated on this premise. No matter the size, shape, ability, the best will rise to the top if the tests are broad and inclusive. Moreover, when you deal in standards of physiology, there are ethical bridges you have to cross and may burn. By putting testing standards on athletes like this would further disillusion the sports and the fans; not to mention the human being who is judged.
Not to say though that testosterone cannot be manipulated and supplemented by athletes who intentionally cheat. That is a nono. I get that side of the argument, BUT... This brings us to our second point about naturally higher levels in some women precluding them from competing in the sport.
Let's look at track and field sports. Distance runners have an entirely different training regiment and metabolic firing rate than say a 100m hurdler does. The Hurdler is clearly functioning in the glycolytic pathway where the 10 or 5k runner is aerobically charged. It doesn't take a genius to see that the training regiments will have an impact on overall Testosterone and hormone levels. I mean, Just look at the size of the athletes!! Testosterone can rise in a more explosive and strength mode of training and can go way down for distance runners or normal exercisers who enjoy a nice jog or a few laps in the pool. Once again, I say let the sport sort itself out. You will have specialists who crush certain things and then you will have the heptathletes who are going to be great all around. They should all stand side by side and test each other. Makes it interesting for me as a spectator and the sport gets better in the long run.
This year at the 2015 CrossFit Games Regionals I saw Neil Maddox take his shirt off. I have seen it many times before as I have competed against him over the years. Every time I see him, I am absolutely blown away. He is truly a specimen of human perfection. Truly. He trumps me physically in his stature ( slightly shorter which is better in CrossFit) and he out weighs me by probably 30 pounds. I don't go cry foul, I fucking bust my ass and see if I can keep up with him. And you know what? I don't care when he beats me because I did my best and he was better at the tasks we were assigned to do. That is sport. If you don't like it, go run a 5k and get your medal at the end. Just know that there are always going to be people who are going to be better than you, it is your choice to try to be better or make excuses why you couldn't.
Testosterone calibration is too intrusive and it crosses the ethical line for sport. As long as its fair enough and supplementation has been ruled out... Let's see it. Humans are becoming amazing, let's let it ride and see where it goes.
Baseline:
With partner,
3X
30 KB Box Step Ups
20 Box Jump Overs
200m Run
Partition reps as you see fit.
Strength:
Back Squat
4X5 @ 85%
WOD:
5 Rounds For Time
9 HSPU
5 Squat Clean 225/155
