Performance Enhancement

This paper allowed me to focus on an argument type which commonly arises before we can argue about what should be done to address an issue: “What is the nature or definition of something?”

In this project I chose the topic of performance enhancement.  I took a twist off the regular definintion and added one that I think is more appropriate.

“If a man or woman is born ten years sooner or later, their whole aspect and performance shall be different”(Wolfgang von Goethe).  Our gene pool just does not allow us to produce dozens of athletic monsters like swimming great Michael Phelps and Usain “Lightening” Bolt.  Since we are not born to be over six feet tall and be the fastest human on the planet, we rely on performance enhancement to help us reach our athletic goals.  Not the performance enhancement that most people think of when they hear the words, which include anabolic steroids and other substances such as tranquilizers that mutate the genes of our bodies.  Substances that commonly go along with the term performance enhancer, like steroids and amphetamines, can increase strength and stamina, clearly putting an athlete at an unfair advantage.  These kinds of drugs are illegal because they present extreme health risks with excessive use.  My definition of performance enhancement is, a legal way to alter the body to reach its absolute peak performance level.  Legal ways to do help your body develop better and perform to the max include standard pharmaceutical drugs, highly developed prosthetics, and new vigorous training methods.

Legal ways to do help your body develop better and perform to the max include classic and new training methods, up to date pharmaceutical drugs, and new developed prosthetics.  Most people are not born with amazing athletic skills like freak athlete Lebron James.  Therefore, we rely on performance enhancement, which is a legal way to improve your body to help reach its maximum performance.  Pharmaceutical drugs like protein powders and vitamins help our bodies’ recover and tack on lean muscle.  Prosthetics give the medically impaired, like sprinter Oscar Pistorius, a chance to be involved in sports again.  Training has evolved over the years with new technological advancement and research and athletes are wreaking all the benefits and becoming monsters, the legal way.  Due to most people not being born from great athletic parents, we are forced to become better on our own with the help of performance enhancement.