By now, you鈥檝e seen the : 鈥淓PO Doesn鈥檛 Boost Performance.鈥 That鈥檚 right: In the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, that 鈥渢here is no scientific basis to conclude rHuEPO has performance enhancing properties in elite cyclists.鈥 But should you believe them?
We could answer that question with anecdotal evidence鈥翱耻迟蝉颈诲别鈥檚 own Stuart Stevens dabbled with EPO for a story and found it to be incredibly effective鈥攂ut we turned to Dr. Michael J. Joyner, a physician-researcher and one of the world鈥檚 leading experts on human performance and exercise physiology for his take.
鈥淭his thing is nuts,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 correct about only one thing: There are essentially no studies on really, really elite people.鈥 In other words: Don鈥檛 go reinstating Lance Armstrong into the pantheon just yet.聽
So where did the study go wrong? It goes back to basic exercise physiology and the science of how races are won, Joyner says. The researchers don鈥檛 understand the relationship between VO2 max鈥攜our body鈥檚 maximum ability to consume oxygen, or your 鈥減erformance ceiling鈥濃攁nd other metrics like , a key predictor of endurance performance, Joyner says.
(In the context of cycling, a five-minute-long pursuit would best correspond to a VO2 max effort, while a 60-minute time trial would closely match your lactate threshold.)
After reviewing the existing literature on EPO, the researchers found that a doping regimen can lead to between a 7 and 9.7 percent increase in VO2 max, with an 鈥渋ncrease in performance estimated by a time-to-exhaustion test of … 9.4 percent (versus 1.5 percent in placebo-treated subjects) and 16.6 percent in trained subjects.鈥
Here鈥檚 how: EPO is a naturally-produced hormone that regulates red blood cell production. Red blood cells happen to carry oxygen, the delivery of which is a limiting factor in endurance performance. More EPO means more red blood cells which means a faster you.
The researchers actually pointed all of this out, but they weren鈥檛 convinced that EPO would have an effect on race-day performance because 鈥渃yclists only work a small amount of time at their peak intensities,鈥 they wrote.聽
That was mistake number one, Joyner says. Even if most racing happens well below VO2 max territory, the racing that matters鈥攎ountain-top finishes and time trials鈥攈appen much closer to VO2 max. Mistake number two: Ignoring that boosting your VO2 max can lead to other benefits, such as a jump in your lactate threshold. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 realize that your lactate threshold is a percentage of your VO2 max,鈥 he says. 鈥淚f your LT [lactate threshold] normally is 80 percent of VO2 max, and your VO2 max goes up, it鈥檚 80 percent of a higher number. Your performance improves.鈥
What about a real world example? Luckily for us, Captaintbag鈥攁 mysterious cycling blogger鈥攈as done the math. The numbers are solid, and based around one very basic relationship, Joyner says. Haemoglobin鈥攁 protein which carries oxygen鈥攁nd your VO2 max are . the changes in a rider鈥檚 haemoglobin based on how much EPO he is taking (or blood he is transfusing). From there, he can predict the rider鈥檚 new VO2 max and threshold power. In other words, he can tell you how quickly a rider can race clean, and on the program.
The numbers are startling. In one example, Captaintbag looked at the power output of domestic pro cyclist Brad Huff and 鈥攁 very-low dose that probably wouldn鈥檛 get you caught, a medium-dose (which might also fly under the radar), or a high 鈥淧ostal鈥 dose.聽
The results: From putting out 4.875 watts/kg at threshold, Huff could see his numbers rise to 5.25 watts/kg on the very-low dose program, 5.44 watts/kg on the medium dose, and 5.74 watts/kg on the 鈥淧ostal鈥 program鈥攗p to a 17 percent increase. 鈥淧resumming that he鈥檇 still be wurth [sic] a damn after 4hrs/ he鈥檚 not quite winning GTs [grand tours like the Tour de France]/ he鈥檚 a sprinter anyways/ but its [sic] a likely ticket to europe [sic],鈥 Captaintbag writes in verse.
THE BOTTOM LINE: There鈥檚 no denying that EPO enhances performance. In fact, it can turn low-level pros into world class riders.