Athletics
Aboriginals ‘were faster than Bolt’
Posted Wednesday, October 14 2009 at 19:36
Why the decline?
“We are so inactive these days and have been since the industrial revolution really kicked into gear,” McAllister replied. “These people were much more robust than we were.
“We don’t see that because we convert to what things were like about 30 years ago. There’s been such a stark improvement in times, technique has improved out of sight, times and heights have all improved vastly since then but if you go back further it’s a different story.
“At the start of the industrial revolution there are statistics about how much harder people worked then. “The human body is very plastic and it responds to stress. We have lost 40 percent of the shafts of our long bones because we have much less of a muscular load placed upon them these days.
“We are simply not exposed to the same loads or challenges that people were in the ancient past and even in the recent past so our bodies haven’t developed. Even the level of training that we do, our elite athletes, doesn’t come close to replicating that. “We wouldn’t want to go back to the brutality of those days but there are some things we would do well to profit from.”
-
Submitted by werssylwerPosted October 16, 2009 07:20 PM
-
Submitted by ananua
That's nothing and only history...I have relatives in the village who have done even greater things and is not a matter of history...one used to carry a 400 litter tank on his head and many others..reasons feeding on good natural food...and stress free life. Today what modernity has brought is stress and what people call food is only junk.
Posted October 16, 2009 02:53 PM -
Submitted by axe08
Modern man is clever. He makes a bullet which runs after the prey. He makes an aircraft which can fly higher than a bird. He makes a motor boat which can beat even 100,000 rowers. Ancient man was daft. He could eat a whole kilo of liver by himself and could not figure why he feels dizzy after the meal. But to be fair to ancient man, he laid the foundation upon which modern man built.
Posted October 16, 2009 08:54 AM -
Submitted by sammie75
Well sport talents should never be based on assumptions,nor hypothesis and if be,should be based on participation,and talent exploitation.One cannot assume he can be better than the other without ever training,and being among the best of the best.I can be better or I would have been.. proposition are nonesensical.Usain is the best of the best among those who have ever participated,and exploited their talent, tested and how can you even compare modern training,methods,equipments,... with pre- historical way of training and methods,acts.This is just speculations, hold no merits.
Posted October 16, 2009 12:40 AM -
Submitted by kagzz
@Werssylwer...this article was not about "human rights" but about their historical physical abilities. The author was not demeaning in any way but rather pointed out that they were (and maybe still are) superior beings. I suggest you can write your article on their exploitation...but dont mix apples and oranges.
Posted October 15, 2009 08:22 PM
RSS
KAGZZ....point taken. Just that I really feel for these people. I have been to "their" reserves and thought to take advantage of this article to mention the abuses they have had to go through without anyone paying attention.