The female high-jumpers tend to be long-legged. Legs don't weigh as much as body. The higher center of gravity contributes to being a good high jumper. QED
The female high-jumpers tend to be long-legged. Legs don't weigh as much as body. The higher center of gravity contributes to being a good high jumper. QED
Frank Blendswell wrote:
Sure they are...
http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/photo/gallery.html#41480
ew.
ghost wrote:
The point I was trying to make is that it is curious to have athletes in a 'technical/power' event who are thinner than distance runners.
And there seems to be a trend that the high jumpers (especially female) are getting thinner.
Except, as already illustrated, going by BMI, they are NOT thinner than distance runners. And no, there is NOt a trend that jumpers are getting thinner except in your head.
Yes they are thinner! Just look at the numbers. If you did the average BMI's of the top 10 female high jumpers, followed by the same stats for the top women in the 5000/10.000/marathon, the results show that more female high jumpers have lower BMI's compared with the female distance runners. Do the math, and you will see.
A significant number of the female high jumpers are well under '18' on the BMI scales, which translates into 'underweight.' Most of the runners fall into the '19-21' range, which is considered 'normal' range, albeit at the low end.
The numbers don't lie. Female elite high jumpers are leaner than female elite distance runners on average, and carry less body fat.
Ghost in Korea
I think the more interesting question here (which you posed earlier) is how do the high jumpers eat. While I'm not convinced they have lower bf than distance runners, they are, no doubt, very lean. Further, it seems as though their training would not burn tons of calories. So are they constantly dieting? Anyone in the know?
ultra wrote:
I think the more interesting question here (which you posed earlier) is how do the high jumpers eat. While I'm not convinced they have lower bf than distance runners, they are, no doubt, very lean. Further, it seems as though their training would not burn tons of calories. So are they constantly dieting? Anyone in the know?
It has to be the same as sprinters...
We had a few people on my track team in college who were Olympians.
They were sprinters and jumpers.
Now, I lived with some of these people, trained at the same time as them, lifted when they lifted, ate with them - even hung out with them.
They never really did that much working out, and they were cut out of stone. They looked like male and female Anatomy lessons.
They would eat pizza, fries, etc. They worked hard when they worked out, but compared to what a lot of us distance runners would do, not really that much.
Lots of plyometrics (sp?), explosion type drills, etc...
It was weird, b/c we would all go out for two runs a day, lift 3 days a week, workout like champs. While we were skinny, we didn't have anywhere near the definition that these guys would have from simply hitting the weights 3 days a week and doing sprints and plyos in the afternoon.
It wasn't like they were doing secret workouts when we weren't looking.
I think some people are just naturally built that way, and like cream, they rise to the top.
I think these high jumpers just have the natural bodies for the sport, and they use them the right way.
ghost wrote:
The lunch of the Kenyans after the main session of the day at 10am, is also relatively light, with a typical Kenyan lunch consisting of rice and beans, followed by cups of hot sweet tea. No desserts or sweet foods in Kenya. Coke and soft drinks are very rarely consumed, but beer is popular, even with elites, on occasion.
The evening repast for Kenyans is the main meal of the day, with corn meal (ugali) with meat stew and vegetables. Often a glass of whole milk, and tea will accompany the meal. No desserts in Kenya.
My experience is that the kenyan lunch is exactly what you describe as the dinnertime meal, with dinner (evening) being pretty much the same meal, but m aybe with one more choice thrown in. Ugali is served at mid-day as well as at dinner. Dinner my see both white and brown ugali. No desserts, as such, but many meals end with a plate of fruit. /Drew
...so I guess that's why Amy Acuff was always called Amy A-Cup when she was at UCLA!