j-a-m wrote: If humans want to move at a fast pace using their legs, there's a way to do that, and it's called "running".
...or if you're a racewalker, it's called racewalking. This thread has really opened my eyes to the hard work that race walkers put in, but I just can't believe it's harder than being a 400m hurdler or triple jumper.
Its not harder, just different. Some people will naturally be more inclined to perform that set of techniques better, as it meets their neuro-mechanical skill set.
TN1965 wrote:I cannot comment on how hard PV or TJ is
The PV is a zillion hours of strength/fitness training, plus a zillion more of technical training. The TJ is significantly less 'training', because the weight work and plyometrics are much more intense than anything the PV demands. I saw a workout of Christian Taylor's at UF and it was insanely hard.
I think you'd be surprised to find out how much technical work world-class walkers have to put in.
The event were the goal is to move faster less efficiently.
The event were the goal is to move faster less efficiently.
The truth is for many people, they actually are more efficient at walking fast. Jefferson Perez is one example. He could barely run faster than he walked because it was not a natural movement sequence for him.
Its the same reason guys like Aries Merritt do the 110HH rather than the 100m. He's better when the hurdles are there. Allen Johnson and most of the other great hurdlers were that way too. The one glaring exception was Devers. Just like hurdling, walking is a technical skill that many people cannot master. It takes years to become proficient for most, but some are just naturally predisposed to it. If the same opportunities were available for walkers as PV'ers, we'd dominate the event purely on the size of the available talent pool to draw from. But closed minds remain that way.
MJR wrote: The truth is for many people, they actually are more efficient at walking fast. Jefferson Perez is one example. He could barely run faster than he walked because it was not a natural movement sequence for him.
Its the same reason guys like Aries Merritt do the 110HH rather than the 100m. He's better when the hurdles are there. Allen Johnson and most of the other great hurdlers were that way too. The one glaring exception was Devers. Just like hurdling, walking is a technical skill that many people cannot master. It takes years to become proficient for most, but some are just naturally predisposed to it. If the same opportunities were available for walkers as PV'ers, we'd dominate the event purely on the size of the available talent pool to draw from. But closed minds remain that way.
But a walker will never walk faster than they can run... Just like a hurdler will never hurdle 100m fast than they can do the flat...
I know(hope) you weren't trying to say that, but it comes off as if you were.
ATK wrote:But a walker will never walk faster than they can run...
Depends on the distance. For different people there are different points at which walking becomes more efficient and faster than running. Granted, that's beyond 50km for elite athletes, but still . . .
ATK wrote:But a walker will never walk faster than they can run...
Depends on the distance. For different people there are different points at which walking becomes more efficient and faster than running. Granted, that's beyond 50km for elite athletes, but still . . .
Even there a walk-run would be faster. Unless you are a porter in Nepal carrying a 50 kilo bag. But even there they would jog downhill. And barefoot too.
But, really, for almost everyone, once you get past 5mph it is much more efficient, and natural, to run.
ATK wrote:But a walker will never walk faster than they can run...
Depends on the distance. For different people there are different points at which walking becomes more efficient and faster than running. Granted, that's beyond 50km for elite athletes, but still . . .
The walker could basically walk but not be constrained by the 'lifting' restriction; should be at least incrementally faster I would think.
Would anyone vote for cross country? Even though, in the United States, we have a high school and college system firmly established, there will probably never be a US cross country runner in the top ten in the world in our lifetime. Just the time it takes to attend one college class makes it impossible to be a world top ten cross country. I think they are competing at a level that is beyond our understanding. We have many world class decathletes, etc.
