And now for something completely different …
Normally the roughneck with the thick ears called on to chat to the rugby guests at the Wynberg Old Boys monthly “Open Mic”, they are really going out on a limb, asking me to have a chat with world renowned sports scientist Prof Tim Noakes tomorrow evening …
Noakes is well known for challenging common and old paradigms in the discipline of Exercise Physiology. He challenged the popular held dogma of the VO2max plateau theory, which eventually lead to the construction of a complex central governor model of exercise in which the brain is the primary organ that dictates how fast, how long, and how hard humans can exercise.
Noakes was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1949 and moved to South Africa at the age of five. Noakes attended Monterey Preparatory School in Constantia, then Diocesan College. He has earned an MBChB (1974), MD (1981), and DSc (Med) (2002) from the University of Cape Town.
He worked very closely with Bob Woolmer, was very outspoken on the Hansie Cronje saga, has been at the forefront in asking for more rest for our top rugby players, suggested the IRB need to look into something called “Bent Science” after the Bryce Lawrence affair at the RWC, has played a massive part in UCT’s success in the Varsity Cup, and has run more Comrades than I have fingers …
To be honest, I am a little in awe of my guest this time round …
Do you have any particular questions that could test this great mind? If so, pop it down as a comment below, and I will wade in with them over a beer or two tomorrow evening – something that will no doubt be frowned upon by the Prof …
