Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Let's Get Molecular, Come On Let Your Body Move
Layman, that's the key word to remember when reading these ideas!
Theoretically, the more fast twitch muscle fibre you have in your muscle mass the faster you are, relatively speaking,i.e., if you have two 200 lb. people the person with 10% more fast twitch muscle should be faster,ceteris paribus. And supposedly the more slow twitch muscle fibre you have in your body the longer you can run but not as fast. So what is the ideal combination of slow and fast twitch muscle fibre in an athlete's body? It depends, I suppose, on the athlete's needs in their particular sport.
For example, a marathon runner requires significantly more slow twitch muscle fibre since they need to run long distances at a steady pace. They have no need to sprint for the entire 26.2 miles. Rather they wish to sustain a steady pace that is very nearly a sprint; world class marathoners run 5 minute miles, so that is almost a sprint. On the other hand a 40 yard dash specialist has no need for a steady pace, they are concerned about total acceleration all the way through the 40 yards, then they stop and do it again.
This is all significant since how they train, dictates their optimum results. As the marathoner well knows he needs to log many miles of endurance type training. Simutaneously, he must be careful not to add any useless fat or mass that will detract from the formation of the highly efficient slow twitch muscle fibres that will allow him to maintain the steady pace for a very long run.
Conversely, the sprinter or athlete that needs bursts of speed will be hampered in their performance if they haul around the slow twitch muscle fibres. Their goal is to develop fast twitch fibre that can explode many times during an event or competition. They work hard to improve the fast twitch and to improve recovery from the bursts of energy. Examples of this type of athlete would be Tennis players, footballers(European and American), basketballers, and so on.
Anecdotal evidence shows that the most successful athletes train very similarly within their respective sports. That is, most skiers train the same as other skiers. By dissecting their training regimens, one can understand that their athletic goals dictate how they have trained historically, and how they will continue to train; trial and error holds true in developing training systems, as well. With that understood, one should also consider that athletes alter their training programs very slowly, so advances in conditioning and fast or slow twitch muscle fibre development have been adopted very slowly.
It wan't that long ago that coaches withheld water during rigorous two a day practices so they could "toughen up" their charges. We now know that this practice is foolhardy and dangerous. A few people had to die to change this practice. There are still a few mis-guided coaches out there that continue to practice this barbarism; Are we not men, do we not bleed when you cut us?, Hell yes, so drink plenty of fluids all the time and look for new ways to get faster all the time
Theoretically, the more fast twitch muscle fibre you have in your muscle mass the faster you are, relatively speaking,i.e., if you have two 200 lb. people the person with 10% more fast twitch muscle should be faster,ceteris paribus. And supposedly the more slow twitch muscle fibre you have in your body the longer you can run but not as fast. So what is the ideal combination of slow and fast twitch muscle fibre in an athlete's body? It depends, I suppose, on the athlete's needs in their particular sport.
For example, a marathon runner requires significantly more slow twitch muscle fibre since they need to run long distances at a steady pace. They have no need to sprint for the entire 26.2 miles. Rather they wish to sustain a steady pace that is very nearly a sprint; world class marathoners run 5 minute miles, so that is almost a sprint. On the other hand a 40 yard dash specialist has no need for a steady pace, they are concerned about total acceleration all the way through the 40 yards, then they stop and do it again.
This is all significant since how they train, dictates their optimum results. As the marathoner well knows he needs to log many miles of endurance type training. Simutaneously, he must be careful not to add any useless fat or mass that will detract from the formation of the highly efficient slow twitch muscle fibres that will allow him to maintain the steady pace for a very long run.
Conversely, the sprinter or athlete that needs bursts of speed will be hampered in their performance if they haul around the slow twitch muscle fibres. Their goal is to develop fast twitch fibre that can explode many times during an event or competition. They work hard to improve the fast twitch and to improve recovery from the bursts of energy. Examples of this type of athlete would be Tennis players, footballers(European and American), basketballers, and so on.
Anecdotal evidence shows that the most successful athletes train very similarly within their respective sports. That is, most skiers train the same as other skiers. By dissecting their training regimens, one can understand that their athletic goals dictate how they have trained historically, and how they will continue to train; trial and error holds true in developing training systems, as well. With that understood, one should also consider that athletes alter their training programs very slowly, so advances in conditioning and fast or slow twitch muscle fibre development have been adopted very slowly.
It wan't that long ago that coaches withheld water during rigorous two a day practices so they could "toughen up" their charges. We now know that this practice is foolhardy and dangerous. A few people had to die to change this practice. There are still a few mis-guided coaches out there that continue to practice this barbarism; Are we not men, do we not bleed when you cut us?, Hell yes, so drink plenty of fluids all the time and look for new ways to get faster all the time
Monday, March 21, 2005
Anomalous Merkin
Every once in a while a person comes along that defies the odds when it comes to speed. That is why records continue to be broken, of course. At a very young age I discovered that I was faster than all the other children my age. In races at school and at cub scout outings I noticed that every time we had a race for a prize I could beat everyone by quite a large margin.
All the way through high school I was the fastest kid in the school for my age. Here are some interesting facts that prove that I was an anomalous merkin. For starters, I went to five grade schools, five high schools and five unversities. At all those schools I was in the top 5 in speed for the 40 yard dash, 100 yard dash and up to the quarter mile.
Next I am of a wide mixof races and gene pools, they include Spanish, French Morrocan, Aztec, Apache, Swiss, and if you believe in the ice bridge theory, Asian. Nearly global stuff! Now that I have married ,our children have even more varied blood lines coursing through them. They both inherited the speed and have competed in college sports.
I was the anomaly, but from now on the kids should pass on the speed component to their progeny, I would expect. After going to all the different schools in the different geographic areas of the USA, I came to understand that there were fast people in all those areas, but I could beat them in a race, no matter the sprint distance. Except when I ran against black athletes who were as fast and in a couple of cases faster. At the top level of competition the winner usually had the best start, and that was the difference between those of us at the top of the speed food chain.
All the way through high school I was the fastest kid in the school for my age. Here are some interesting facts that prove that I was an anomalous merkin. For starters, I went to five grade schools, five high schools and five unversities. At all those schools I was in the top 5 in speed for the 40 yard dash, 100 yard dash and up to the quarter mile.
Next I am of a wide mixof races and gene pools, they include Spanish, French Morrocan, Aztec, Apache, Swiss, and if you believe in the ice bridge theory, Asian. Nearly global stuff! Now that I have married ,our children have even more varied blood lines coursing through them. They both inherited the speed and have competed in college sports.
I was the anomaly, but from now on the kids should pass on the speed component to their progeny, I would expect. After going to all the different schools in the different geographic areas of the USA, I came to understand that there were fast people in all those areas, but I could beat them in a race, no matter the sprint distance. Except when I ran against black athletes who were as fast and in a couple of cases faster. At the top level of competition the winner usually had the best start, and that was the difference between those of us at the top of the speed food chain.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Watch out, the Merchant is on line
Horse breeders and farmers have known for ever that if you take one mammal and match it with another of like kind mammal, you will get characteristics from both mates. And therein lies the foundation for faster people. Since we are mammals, one should suppose that if you breed for speed you would get it in the offspring most of the time. Over time speed will continue to be enhanced if speed as a genetic marker is dominant. The dominance of speed, genetically speaking, apppears to be a dominant charecteristic if you look at the anecdotal evidence.
One only has to look at the majority of sprinters in the olympics to see that is the case. Anomalies in the speed area do occur, look at the Russians and Eastern Europeans of the last century. They excelled against the typical world class sprinters of African ancestry. Although some of the europeans are suspect due to steroids and biological manipulations.
To illustrate this idea of genetic significance in the development of speed, I would like to relate a story that is based in fact. Once while doing business with a sod grower in central Arizona I asked the grower if he knew the local famous sports family, the Malones. He said that he kew them very well and that he had grown up with the eldest brother. There were three brothers. I told him I had competed against the middle brother in track and field at the high school level.
I then asked him how was it that these guys were so fast and so big. He said its funny I should ask, because he had a very good friend from Michigan State that did his doctoral thesis in African studies on the effects of the slave trade on today's African Americans athletes.
He told me that his friend did quite a study on the effects of genetic engineering by slavers and farmers in early colonial and the pre-civil war periods of north and south America. The study used as a hypothesis that the effect of the slave trade and the use of slaves propelled the Africans a thousnad years into the future as it relates to certain developmental and evolutionary traits. His study had a very narrow focus that tried to identify how the manipulation was done and how we would recognize the effects in todays African American athletic population.
The fellow that performed the study did not tell me the results or the specifics of his study directly, so I am relying on second hand information here. According to my source the study included some basic understandings that included:
1. Farmers demanded slaves for their production needs and they saw the slaves as assets, totally dispassionate about their chattel,
2.Slavers saw the slaves as assets and were also concerned about productivity as well as physical characteristics of their product,
3.The slave trade is the foundation for the manipulation that would prove his hypothesis.
As the study unfolded the doctoral candidate found that as slavers entered the villages of Africa they looked for certain characteristcs of which size and good physical presence were very important. These characteristics acted as the litmus test that was used to evaluate men and women.
Once the slavers had a boat load of slaves ,they would make their way to the new world across the Atlantic. During the trip weak slaves would die and the the stronger slaves lived. This turned out to be the second test in the process for the slavers, they knew that only the strongest would survive and the weaker slaves would be culled from the heard so to speak. They expected to lose a certain number of slaves due to disease or accidents(spoilage), and the healthy live ones were considered to be the best of the best. Slaves would be auctioned to farmers in the new world. This trade for flesh lasted for centuries so over time the slavers became very precise in their evaluation of the slaves.They knew their product upside and down.
Farmers then took over the manipulation of their newly acquired property. Once the farmer had purchased a strong young slave they would utilize the best traits of their new chattel to the greatest advantage. As was part of a every farmers job, he would try for higher and higher yield from his crops and from his slaves. This activity of "hibridization " by farmers went on for hundreds of years and like the slaver ,they too became very proficient at manipulating their assets to their fullest potential. Farmers do the same thing today with their crops and livestock, of course.
Specifically, farmers identified which of their male slaves was a real stud,i.e. strong, large, well muscled, and would seek to cross him with the strongest females. In the cotton growing areas,for example, farmers bred for very stong lower backs and powerful thighs, key ingredients for bursts of speed and power. Their needs were for slaves to be able to haul heavy bags of cottonon hteir backs and be able to do it for long periods of time. On the other hand, there was a lesser need for slaves that would help in the house. Farmers did breed for smaller help, so house slaves were necessary. Their characteristcs included fine hand and motor skills as well as gregariousness, so they could interact with the farmer's family and serve as well as prepare food. A large slave was not a house slave, too threatening and clumsy for the smallish rooms of a farm.
Over time the farmer would try to enhance his odds of having large strong slaves by cross breeding with the neighbor's slaves. Just like a horse or cattle breeder who uses stud services to attain certain characteristcs, the farmer manipulated the gene pool to fit his immediate needs as well as the needs of his heirs. Again, this went on for a very long time in the new world. Slaves and their off spring were handed down generation to generation.
Due to this manipulation over a long period of time, the doctoral candidate concluded that the net effect for the slaves was that the African descendants had advanced nearly one thousand years in their devlopment of size and speed, by having larger and stronger backs and legs . Along with size and speed came a few unpredicted side effects. Leaping ability, finer motor movements, superior flexiblity, quicker recovery from exertion, and higher levels of testosterone than their non-slave counterparts also emerged as side effects.
This story illustrates that the manipulation has made a significant differenence as to why African descendants dominate in many professional sports today. It was never more evident than when you saw Michael Jordan play basketball or when you saw Lee Evans run the 400 meters.
One only has to look at the majority of sprinters in the olympics to see that is the case. Anomalies in the speed area do occur, look at the Russians and Eastern Europeans of the last century. They excelled against the typical world class sprinters of African ancestry. Although some of the europeans are suspect due to steroids and biological manipulations.
To illustrate this idea of genetic significance in the development of speed, I would like to relate a story that is based in fact. Once while doing business with a sod grower in central Arizona I asked the grower if he knew the local famous sports family, the Malones. He said that he kew them very well and that he had grown up with the eldest brother. There were three brothers. I told him I had competed against the middle brother in track and field at the high school level.
I then asked him how was it that these guys were so fast and so big. He said its funny I should ask, because he had a very good friend from Michigan State that did his doctoral thesis in African studies on the effects of the slave trade on today's African Americans athletes.
He told me that his friend did quite a study on the effects of genetic engineering by slavers and farmers in early colonial and the pre-civil war periods of north and south America. The study used as a hypothesis that the effect of the slave trade and the use of slaves propelled the Africans a thousnad years into the future as it relates to certain developmental and evolutionary traits. His study had a very narrow focus that tried to identify how the manipulation was done and how we would recognize the effects in todays African American athletic population.
The fellow that performed the study did not tell me the results or the specifics of his study directly, so I am relying on second hand information here. According to my source the study included some basic understandings that included:
1. Farmers demanded slaves for their production needs and they saw the slaves as assets, totally dispassionate about their chattel,
2.Slavers saw the slaves as assets and were also concerned about productivity as well as physical characteristics of their product,
3.The slave trade is the foundation for the manipulation that would prove his hypothesis.
As the study unfolded the doctoral candidate found that as slavers entered the villages of Africa they looked for certain characteristcs of which size and good physical presence were very important. These characteristics acted as the litmus test that was used to evaluate men and women.
Once the slavers had a boat load of slaves ,they would make their way to the new world across the Atlantic. During the trip weak slaves would die and the the stronger slaves lived. This turned out to be the second test in the process for the slavers, they knew that only the strongest would survive and the weaker slaves would be culled from the heard so to speak. They expected to lose a certain number of slaves due to disease or accidents(spoilage), and the healthy live ones were considered to be the best of the best. Slaves would be auctioned to farmers in the new world. This trade for flesh lasted for centuries so over time the slavers became very precise in their evaluation of the slaves.They knew their product upside and down.
Farmers then took over the manipulation of their newly acquired property. Once the farmer had purchased a strong young slave they would utilize the best traits of their new chattel to the greatest advantage. As was part of a every farmers job, he would try for higher and higher yield from his crops and from his slaves. This activity of "hibridization " by farmers went on for hundreds of years and like the slaver ,they too became very proficient at manipulating their assets to their fullest potential. Farmers do the same thing today with their crops and livestock, of course.
Specifically, farmers identified which of their male slaves was a real stud,i.e. strong, large, well muscled, and would seek to cross him with the strongest females. In the cotton growing areas,for example, farmers bred for very stong lower backs and powerful thighs, key ingredients for bursts of speed and power. Their needs were for slaves to be able to haul heavy bags of cottonon hteir backs and be able to do it for long periods of time. On the other hand, there was a lesser need for slaves that would help in the house. Farmers did breed for smaller help, so house slaves were necessary. Their characteristcs included fine hand and motor skills as well as gregariousness, so they could interact with the farmer's family and serve as well as prepare food. A large slave was not a house slave, too threatening and clumsy for the smallish rooms of a farm.
Over time the farmer would try to enhance his odds of having large strong slaves by cross breeding with the neighbor's slaves. Just like a horse or cattle breeder who uses stud services to attain certain characteristcs, the farmer manipulated the gene pool to fit his immediate needs as well as the needs of his heirs. Again, this went on for a very long time in the new world. Slaves and their off spring were handed down generation to generation.
Due to this manipulation over a long period of time, the doctoral candidate concluded that the net effect for the slaves was that the African descendants had advanced nearly one thousand years in their devlopment of size and speed, by having larger and stronger backs and legs . Along with size and speed came a few unpredicted side effects. Leaping ability, finer motor movements, superior flexiblity, quicker recovery from exertion, and higher levels of testosterone than their non-slave counterparts also emerged as side effects.
This story illustrates that the manipulation has made a significant differenence as to why African descendants dominate in many professional sports today. It was never more evident than when you saw Michael Jordan play basketball or when you saw Lee Evans run the 400 meters.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
The day of the merchant
I have lived five lives and I am not a vampire. All these lives have provided great info on how to be the fastest person you can be. The speed merchant has nothing to do with drugs. Rather, the title of the Speed Merchant is an assertion of my ability to communicate with anyone how to become as fast as you can be, given two basic precepts. The precepts are first, that people are limited to an inherent speed or quickness by mostly genetic factors, and second, that your penultimate speed is related to your workouts and training techniques.
I am the self proclaimed Speed Merchant only because noone else says they are the merchant. That said, anyone can give their two cents to this page if it helps someone become faster. I have met people that know a lot about getting faster and I hope they along with others will contribute their experiences and knowledge with the intention of helping us get Quick!
Let the fun begin.
I am the self proclaimed Speed Merchant only because noone else says they are the merchant. That said, anyone can give their two cents to this page if it helps someone become faster. I have met people that know a lot about getting faster and I hope they along with others will contribute their experiences and knowledge with the intention of helping us get Quick!
Let the fun begin.
Friday, March 18, 2005
