Modern man is a wimp

[Bob]

Modern man a wimp says anthropologist | U.S. | Reuters Modern man a wimp says anthropologist
Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:24am EDT


McAllister said it was probable that any number of T8's contemporaries could have run as fast.

"We have to remember too how incredibly rare these fossilizations are," he said. "What are the odds that you would get the fastest runner in Australia at that particular time in that particular place in such a way that was going to be preserved?"

Turning to the high jump, McAllister said photographs taken by a German anthropologist showed young men jumping heights of up to 2.52 meters in the early years of last century.

STARK DECLINE

"It was an initiation ritual, everybody had to do it. They had to be able to jump their own height to progress to manhood," he said.

"It was something they did all the time and they lived very active lives from a very early age. They developed very phenomenal abilities in jumping. They were jumping from boyhood onwards to prove themselves."

McAllister said a Neanderthal woman had 10 percent more muscle bulk than modern European man. Trained to capacity she would have reached 90 percent of Schwarzenegger's bulk at his peak in the 1970s.

"But because of the quirk of her physiology, with a much shorter lower arm, she would slam him to the table without a problem," he said.

 

[Bob]

Manthropology abounds with other examples:

* Roman legions completed more than one-and-a-half marathons a day carrying more than half their body weight in equipment.

* Athens employed 30,000 rowers who could all exceed the achievements of modern oarsmen.

* Australian aboriginals threw a hardwood spear 110 meters or more (the current world javelin record is 98.48).

McAllister said it was difficult to equate the ancient spear with the modern javelin but added: "Given other evidence of Aboriginal man's superb athleticism you'd have to wonder whether they couldn't have taken out every modern javelin event they entered."

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. Continued..

 

[AlphaCrab]

Thought provoking..as are all your threads

 

[Gidget]

I agree.

Although last 2 weekends I was at triathlons that my dh was doing. Some of those men and women were incredible!

G

 

[Just Curious]

Thought provoking..as are all your threads

oh...that was sweet

 

[30A Skunkape]

Bob, you bring up an interesting topic here.

I wonder what everyone thinks about the dogma that people's lives are unprecedentedly hectic in 2009. Madison Avenue seems to define 'hectic' as a mom towing a gaggle of kids to a soccer game in the SUV while clutching a Starbucks Grande, hoping to get the dog to the vet on time.

Contrast soccer mom 2009 with a European mom circa 30,000 years ago watching her thin kids huddle by the fire as the first snow of the season dusted the land, knowing that the summer food take was less than optimal.

We are incredibly spoiled and in denial about how good we have it. Not that this is all bad;Where would our economy be without the sales of anxiolytics, pitches from stress reduction gurus and self help books?

 

[Bob]

Bob, you bring up an interesting topic here.

I wonder what everyone thinks about the dogma that people's lives are unprecedentedly hectic in 2009. Madison Avenue seems to define 'hectic' as a mom towing a gaggle of kids to a soccer game in the SUV while clutching a Starbucks Grande, hoping to get the dog to the vet on time.

Contrast soccer mom 2009 with a European mom circa 30,000 years ago watching her thin kids huddle by the fire as the first snow of the season dusted the land, knowing that the summer food take was less than optimal.

We are incredibly spoiled and in denial about how good we have it. Not that this is all bad;Where would our economy be without the sales of anxiolytics, pitches from stress reduction gurus and self help books?

agreed, and of course, the saying that "less is more" is something worth discovering. i have a baggy or two in the family room with 10-15 tv remotes. i attended a collegiate cross country meet in deland yesterday, and it was shocking to see the bmi disparity between the athletes and the rest of the attendees.