[QUOTE=Pork Chop;1157135]I just realized that I never finished my post.
“In the reality show they hurt an elk with a long javelin-type thing, tracked it down until got tired, and killed it”. But now that I think about it, they might’ve killed the elk with the first or second shot and not had to track it. It was a discovery channel show and I think you can probably find a clip on youtube.[/QUOTE]
I think it is one of those “combination of” as opposed to the “either.or” thing.
Yes they tracked the animal down, but probably by walking at a fast pace rather than endurance running and they probably attacked with explosive sprinting.
We are designed better for sprint then endurance and in terms of developed skillset, sprint is far easier developed than cardiovascualr endurance and then of course there is the energy issue.
Again, endurance played its part of course, I just don’t think it was a “marathon” like pace.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1157137]I think it is one of those “combination of” as opposed to the “either.or” thing.
Yes they tracked the animal down, but probably by walking at a fast pace rather than endurance running and they probably attacked with explosive sprinting.
We are designed better for sprint then endurance and in terms of developed skillset, sprint is far easier developed than cardiovascualr endurance and then of course there is the energy issue.
Again, endurance played its part of course, I just don’t think it was a “marathon” like pace.[/QUOTE]
Our sprints are terrible compared to almost any other animal on the planet. People can run for miles. And miles. And miles. We are upright, two-legged runners. We can’t sprint like our four legged friends.
A human, in decent shape, can “airborne shuffle” for an eternity.
[QUOTE=Drake;1157195]Our sprints are terrible compared to almost any other animal on the planet. People can run for miles. And miles. And miles. We are upright, two-legged runners. We can’t sprint like our four legged friends.
A human, in decent shape, can “airborne shuffle” for an eternity.[/QUOTE]
You can’t compare our sprints with other animals, only other primates.
And while we certainly can run for miles, we can walk for more AND be better prepared to deal with what i s at the end of that walk.
Again, if we were “engineered” for endurance it wouldn’t take so long to get it and it would be the first thing to go.
Know what I mean?
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1157212]You can’t compare our sprints with other animals, only other primates.
And while we certainly can run for miles, we can walk for more AND be better prepared to deal with what i s at the end of that walk.
Again, if we were “engineered” for endurance it wouldn’t take so long to get it and it would be the first thing to go.
Know what I mean?[/QUOTE]
If we got our cardio up to a healthy level, you could run 5 miles at an easy 8:00/mile pace and be perfectly capable of dealing with thatever is at the end of the road.
Humans just got fat and lazy. Even the humans we think are in decent shape are pretty sad compared to our ancestors. We are in such awe of African runners, but the fact is, they are just what we were.
[QUOTE=Drake;1157216]If we got our cardio up to a healthy level, you could run 5 miles at an easy 8:00/mile pace and be perfectly capable of dealing with thatever is at the end of the road.
Humans just got fat and lazy. Even the humans we think are in decent shape are pretty sad compared to our ancestors. We are in such awe of African runners, but the fact is, they are just what we were.[/QUOTE]
Sure, but we are not talking about what we can train our bodies to do.
To think that our paleo ancestors trained running would be erroneous, they ran because they had to and they would conserve the most energy they could in doing so.
The fact that we are breaking world records in ALL the running events shows that we are becoming better at running.
Not to mention that the skeletons of the paleo humans we find don’t really lend to the notion of a “world class” runner.
That we have tribes that run for very long distance means as much as the fact that Jamaicans ( and those of caribbean decent) have the top speeds in the sprint.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1157218]Sure, but we are not talking about what we can train our bodies to do.
To think that our paleo ancestors trained running would be erroneous, they ran because they had to and they would conserve the most energy they could in doing so.
The fact that we are breaking world records in ALL the running events shows that we are becoming better at running.
Not to mention that the skeletons of the paleo humans we find don’t really lend to the notion of a “world class” runner.
That we have tribes that run for very long distance means as much as the fact that Jamaicans ( and those of caribbean decent) have the top speeds in the sprint.[/QUOTE]
My ethnic background is one of slower, distance-based runners. Again, I can naturally run almost indefinitely. There was a time when my sprints were really fast too, but I had to constantly train that.
[QUOTE=Drake;1157221]My ethnic background is one of slower, distance-based runners. Again, I can naturally run almost indefinitely. There was a time when my sprints were really fast too, but I had to constantly train that.[/QUOTE]
Not sure what that means…but the point I was trying to make is that a small group does not a pattern make.
The Kenyans are as good as they are because of the high altitude running and that they ran all the time since they were kids, which naturally translated to high level endurance running.
For that area great, not so great for an area that was mostly desert/ sand or tundra.
Don’t see many marathons being held in the northern countries do we? or in the Sahara.
The environment would have dictated the type of hunting that was done, as it does today.
The human body evolved in such a way as to be incredibly adaptive.
It’s another tired argument, just like the TMA vs MMA one on here. We’re capable at both, but great at neither. Well, at least in terms of other animals.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1157225]Not sure what that means…but the point I was trying to make is that a small group does not a pattern make.
The Kenyans are as good as they are because of the high altitude running and that they ran all the time since they were kids, which naturally translated to high level endurance running.
For that area great, not so great for an area that was mostly desert/ sand or tundra.
Don’t see many marathons being held in the northern countries do we? or in the Sahara.
The environment would have dictated the type of hunting that was done, as it does today.[/QUOTE]
I’m not of Kenyan descent…
My point is, our bodies, as a race, are weak. We have a few specialists who still show what we are capable of, but most of us are shadows, physically, of what we were.
[QUOTE=JamesC;1157229]The human body evolved in such a way as to be incredibly adaptive.
It’s another tired argument, just like the TMA vs MMA one on here. We’re capable at both, but great at neither. Well, at least in terms of other animals.[/QUOTE]
Hence my point that it was NOT a case of either/or, but a case of both.
My point is, our bodies, as a race, are weak. We have a few specialists who still show what we are capable of, but most of us are shadows, physically, of what we were.[/QUOTE]
You are beginning to sound like Uki.
We are breaking human performance records all the time, at both the elite level AND the “everyday” athlete level.
Distance, speed, jump and lifting records are all being brokenm which means that we are running faster, longer, jumping higher and further, lifting more.
And we are doing that wearing spandex, that has got to count for something !
[QUOTE=JamesC;1157229]The human body evolved in such a way as to be incredibly adaptive.
It’s another tired argument, just like the TMA vs MMA one on here. We’re capable at both, but great at neither. Well, at least in terms of other animals.[/QUOTE]
I like this.
The whole “we evolved in such and such a way therefore we should only do those specific things” is so boring. We should push the boundaries of what we are capable of.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1157240]You are beginning to sound like Uki.
We are breaking human performance records all the time, at both the elite level AND the “everyday” athlete level.
Distance, speed, jump and lifting records are all being brokenm which means that we are running faster, longer, jumping higher and further, lifting more.
And we are doing that wearing spandex, that has got to count for something ![/QUOTE]
Not “we”. A select group of athletes. The rest of the country is dealing with a 75% obesity rate.
[QUOTE=Drake;1157249]Not “we”. A select group of athletes. The rest of the country is dealing with a 75% obesity rate.[/QUOTE]
Well, if you are saying that as a general population we are LESS equipped to deal with our environment, I would say that depends.
I agree that we are victims of a sedentary lifestyle, but outside the cases of morbid obesity, most people could change and adapt rather quickly.
yes, I agree the the general population is less fit then it was 1000 years ago or 1000 or even a million, BUT the potential for us is far greater than it would have been then.
Granted we are living longer than ever before because of relative peace and modern medicine, ( the main killers of the past were violence and illness) and one wonders what the man of yesteryear could have done under similar conditions but we may never know because we have gotten here where we are NOW because of what has happened to Us and our environment till this moment.
I don’t know how correct it is to think that the majority of people in the ancient times were healthier than we are now.
There were still mentions of obese people back then, stil mentions of sedentary people and the same old debates we have now.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1157253]And at 5-6 and 175lbs I am “overweight” according to most stats.
Borderline obese.[/QUOTE]
Are you like Rocky in Rocky III? Strong an’ all, but needs to lean up, learn how to move “like a colored person” (According to Tommy), and then run on the beach in short shorts?
It’s a weird disconnect. If people were so much more rugged back in the day, then why does life expectancy keep increasing? Outside of environmental control factors like better sanitation and medical care.
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